Nearly 60 of the 80 newly elected TMC MLAs on Sunday failed to turn up at party supremo Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence in Kolkata on Sunday, forcing the party to cancel the scheduled meeting.

With only a handful of MLAs turning up, the meeting has now been deferred.

“The meeting was pre-scheduled. However, in the aftermath of the attacks on our leaders, our MLAs are organising protest programmes at the ground level, following which severe police action has been unleashed on our workers. The MLAs, who are stuck assisting our arrested party workers, had informed the legislative party of the developments and requested that the meeting be temporarily postponed… We are in touch with them,” TMC spokesperson and Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh told mediapersons outside the former chief minister’s residence.

“We will hold this meeting at a later date, the details of which will be duly communicated to our MLAs. All our legislators have communicated that they are firmly standing with the party during these difficult times,” Ghosh added.

Those who were seen at Mamata’s Kalight residence included party MP Derek O’Brien, former minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, MLAs Sovan Deb Chatterjee, Nayana Bandhopadhay, Ashok Deb, Samir Kumar Jana, Rahim Bakshi, Ashima Patra, Madan Mitra, and Kunal Ghosh, among others.

According to sources, Mamata had called the Sunday meeting to discuss a wide range of issues, including the CID investigation into allegations of forged signatures on the letter for the Leader of the Opposition post, as well as the attacks on TMC workers since the Assembly election results.

Party sources said that despite the presence of 20-odd MLAs and other party leaders, the TMC chief held informal talks with those present at the meeting.

Meanwhile, reacting to only 20-odd TMC MLAs present at the meeting, BJP MP Rahul Sinha said, “Today, 20 MLAs came. Let some more time pass, then only two people will remain in the party –  Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek… She wants to protest, so let her take permission from the police. It will be the police’s decision.”

Kolkata In the wake of the attacks on TMC MPs Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee, the party on Sunday announced statewide protest rallies in every ward and block on June 1, followed by a daylong dharna at Kolkata’s Rani Rashmoni Road under the leadership of party chief Mamata Banerjee.

“We have asked our leaders to organise protest rallies at block levels in rural areas and at the municipal wards in the state’s urban pockets on Monday, June 1. The rallies will decry the attacks on our leaders Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee and all our workers who are victims of BJP’s post-poll terror,” TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh said.

“The one-day symbolic sit-in protest will be held at the Rani Rashmoni Road protest site in Esplanade,” he said.
The subsequent political programmes of our party will be announced from the dharna platform on June 2, he added.