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Beset with rising group rivalries and airing of individual opinions by some party leaders, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today issued a strong warning to the leaders against anti-party activities, reminding them that "no individual is above the party".
"We will not accept any anti-party activity. If the party is not there, the individual is non-existent," she said addressing a party workers' meeting here in West Midnapur district.
Banerjee's strong reaction is because of some party leaders singing different tunes recently on some issues and reports of group rivalries in some constituencies. Trinamool Congress MP Sugato Bose recently went on record, saying, "The culprits in the financial fraud (Saradha chit fund scam), whoever they may be, have to be brought to book through the legal process as poor people have been duped."
To give another instance, on the sidelines of the convocation of Presidency University, Bose had said the people should have faith in the Judiciary as the court would take the right decision. Bose's comment caused an embarassment to the party at a time when the TMC supremo had launched a scathing attack against the Narendra Modi government and the CBI, terming the arrest of state transport minister Madan Mitra in the Saradah scam as an outcome of "political vendetta".
She had also directed her MPs to wear black badges and shawls and to protest during the just-concluded winter session of Parliament. Two days ago, state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee backed a Jadavpur University graduate who refused to accept her degree and award from Governor K N Tripathi, also the Chancellor of the institution, during the university's 59th annual convocation on December 24.
Another leader and state Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pandey had hinted last Saturday without taking name that Jadavpur University vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti ought to have resigned.
Pandey had said that any person with self-respect should "leave once he realizes that he is unwanted". These acts have raised eyebrows in the party with TMC spokesperson Partha Chatterjee saying that party functionaries should have expressed their opinions within the party.
Chatterjee, who is the state education minister, said yesterday that there was no question of Jadavpur University VC's resignation, because CPI(M) leaders Suryakanta Mishra Biman Bose had made the same demand.
At the meeting, the Chief Minister attacked the Centre for taking away the state's revenue as instalments for debts left behind by the Left Front government and wondered why her government should be made to suffer for what the previous government had done. Referring to the Assam carnage, she said, "Our tribal community bothers and sisters were killed in Assam. We register our strong protest."
She announced on the occasion that the party's Seva Dal organisation would be renamed as Jai Hind Bahini, which would observe Netaji's birth anniversary on January 23. "We will create a organisation called Joy Hind Bahini in every block which will be beside people in their times of need," she said.
Turning her attention to media, she said, "We will not take any steps against any media which are spreading false news, people will decide their fate. Some medias are now working for the BJP in the state."
She said, "The party comes first before personal interests. We must defeat money power and media power. Manpower is the greatest power. Fight against CPM-BJP, money-power, media-power." "The Left parties ran a reign of terror, when we came in power, we sought for change, not revenge," she said.
