After Abhishek Banerjee attack, 60 TMC MLAs skip Mamata's meeting
What's the story
A meeting of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators at former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence was canceled after only 20 out of 80 newly elected MLAs turned up. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said many legislators couldn't attend due to ongoing protests against alleged political violence, which included assaults on Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday and an alleged assault on party MP Kalyan Banerjee the following day. The meeting was scheduled for 3:00pm but was called off due to low attendance.
Protest escalation
Meeting called off due to low attendance
However, the TMC was quick to dismiss concerns over the low attendance, saying those who couldn't attend were busy with local protests and handling police action against TMC workers. Ghosh said, "The meeting had been fixed in advance, but the attacks on the party's leaders had led MLAs to organize protests in different areas." He stated that the MLAs informed the legislative party of the events and asked if the meeting could be postponed for the time being.
Protest plan
Mamata held informal discussions with MLAs present
Ghosh added that the party would hold block-level and ward-level rallies on Monday and a day-long sit-in in central Kolkata on Tuesday. The one-day symbolic sit-in would be held at the Rani Rashmoni Road protest site in Esplanade, to be led by Mamata. Ghosh said these protests would be against what he called post-poll terror by the Suvendu Adhikari-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
Protest focus
Sit-in against post-poll violence, hawker eviction
The sit-in would be against ongoing post-poll violence and hawker eviction through bulldozers across the state. Ghosh also stated that the party's next political program would be announced at the dharna on June 2. The latest setback for the Trinamool Congress came hours after Kalyan was hit on the head in Hooghly's Chanditala, and a day after the party's second-in-command, Abhishek, was thrashed by a mob.