Kolkata: As internal tensions within the Trinamool Congress deepen, MP Mahua Moitra openly accused senior colleague Sudip Bandyopadhyay of misleading the party about his whereabouts — saying he claimed to be ill in Kolkata while she alleges he was meeting a Union minister in New Delhi.
This comes at a time when a group of Lok Sabha MPs has split from the party line and is seeking to establish an independent presence in Parliament.
In a post on X, Moitra on Sunday night alleged that Bandyopadhyay had informed party leaders that he was undergoing treatment at a Kolkata hospital for a stomach-related ailment. She claimed he was later seen in Delhi at the residence of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
“His mask & his wig both come off – Sudip Bandyopadhyay told us he was in Apollo Kolkata with a tummy bug when we suddenly saw him on TV in Delhi in Bhupinder Yadav’s home. Dada pls change your X handle to @SudipBJPBTeam at least. Don’t use our name,” Moitra wrote.
In another post earlier on Monday, Moitra invoked Bandyopadhyay’s arrest in the Rose Valley case and accused him of feigning sickness both then and now to gain advantage.
“Dada @SudipBAITC, you were arrested in 2017. jailed in the Rose Valley scam. Faked illness then & took the BJD govt’s help to move from jail to hospital. Again, you faked illness to fly to Delhi to do gaddari! Tapas Roy & Kunal Ghosh were right about you. We were wrong!” she said.
Kunal Ghosh Weighs In
Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh also questioned Bandyopadhyay’s allegiance to the party.
“Mamata didi gave positions and honour to these people, and this is what these people give in return. Sudip Bandyopadhyay has a history of changing parties,” Ghosh said.
He added that he had previously warned the party leadership about Bandyopadhyay’s conduct and suffered politically for speaking out.
“We had said that he is not good and his politics worked only by misleading Mamata didi. I was once suspended by the party for it. Today, it is being proved that what I said that day was correct,” Ghosh added.
MPs Break Ranks, Seek Separate Identity
The dispute widened after a group of Trinamool MPs publicly diverged from the party’s official line in Parliament.
Rebel leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said 20 Lok Sabha MPs have joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). She said the group would back the National Democratic Alliance and has requested separate seating in the Lok Sabha, maintaining that they represent the “real TMC”.
The development prompted sharp reactions from leaders who remain loyal to the party leadership.
