The Trimanool Congress is juggling with another impending crisis as a report on Sabyasachi Dutta, the Mayor of Bidhan Nagar [Salt Lake], has been submitted to the disciplinary committee following a meeting of about 40 councillors.
Mr. Dutta has been openly liaisoning with the Bharatiya Janata Party and had even led a protest against the Mamata Banerjee government earlier this week. On Friday, he joined a TMC-backed labour union programme in the State-run power company.
Removal recommended
The union targeted the government for not increasing salaries and clearing the dearness allowance of the employees.
In this context, Sunday’s meeting was convened to initiate disciplinary action against Mr. Dutta, and a report was sent to the party recommending his removal. The TMC councillors unanimously agreed that he was an “underperformer”.
“His performance as a Mayor is abysmal and both his councillors and the party chief are upset,” said Sudhir Saha, a TMC councillor of the Salt Lake’s civic body. Many criticised his move to embarrass the party, however, Mr. Dutta remained unfazed.
His take
“Ms. Banerjee is our leader and I have walked on her path only. She told us to stand by the people in need. So I joined the union in their protest,” said Mr. Dutta.
Meanwhile, speculation has been rife in Bengal over the last few months that Mr. Dutta may join the BJP, especially after BJP leader Mukul Roy landed up at his residence before the election.
On Sunday, Mr. Roy appreciated Mr. Dutta’s “role during the election [which] was good for the BJP”.
He did not comment on whether Mr. Dutta was joining the BJP.
