Kolkata, Sep 12 (IANS): The Trinamool Congress should not be allowed to operate like a family-run party where all policies will be dependent on the whims and mercies of one particular person, said the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee, who is also the leader of the rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress.
“Trinamool Congress should be run in a democratic manner. The manner in which the party was being run earlier was like that of a private limited company where everything was dependent on the sole discretion of former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee.
“We feel that Trinamool Congress should not operate as a family-run party where all the decisions of the party will depend on the whims of one particular person,” said Ritabrata while speaking to media persons after the meeting with the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIDEM) in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon
Although the scheduled meeting was for an hour from 11.a.m. to 12 noon, in reality the meeting lasted for about one hour and 20 minutes. The main purpose of the meeting was to enable the ECI to hear the arguments of the Ritabrata-led faction in favour of their claims for the party’s name and symbol.
The ECI will also hear the arguments of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction in the matter today, following which the Commission is expected to decide on the fate of the party name and symbol.
While speaking to media persons, Ritabrata declined to specify details of the deliberation during the meeting with the Commission.
“I should not divulge what exactly transpired at the meeting. All I can say is that in such cases the facts and supporting documents matter. Our delegation had submitted most of the documents that the Commission had asked for. The ECI has sought some more documents, which we will submit today,” said Ritabrata.
He also said that the delegation had requested the Commission to take a decision in the matter at the earliest considering that September 16 is the last date for filing nominations for the forthcoming bypolls for Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies in West Bengal.
“We have presented our arguments to the best of our ability in front of the Commission. Now the Commission will take its decision since the Constitution of India had given ECI the authority to take the final decision in the matter. I am not Mamata Banerjee. I cannot predict the Commission’s decision now,” Ritabrata said.
