Trinamool lost faith in its own MLAs, say Left, Cong.

Both demand that the Mamata government convene Assembly session

Alleging that the Trinamool Congress government has lost faith in its own elected MLAs, Leader of the Left Front Legislature Party in the Assembly Sujan Chakraborty on Thursday questioned why the Trinamool government was shying from convening the Assembly session when it is business-as-usual in West Bengal amidst the pandemic.

“We have not asked for trust vote as the Assembly is not in session, but we are sure that the Trinamool government has lost the trust of its MLAs,” Mr. Chakraborty said.

The Left parties and the Congress have been demanding that the West Bengal government convene a session of the Assembly and adopt a resolution nullifying the farm Bills passed by the Centre. On Thursday, Mr. Chakraborty, along with Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Abdul Mannan wrote another letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urging her to convene Assembly session. Mr. Mannan also spoke in the same vein, saying that the people of State were unsure of the situation after several MLAs of the Trinamool joined the BJP.

Along with former Minister and Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari, over half a dozen MLAs from the State’s ruling party have joined the BJP in the past few months.

Political observers, however, say that the Trinamool enjoys support of majority of the MLAs. Of the 294 MLAs in the Assembly, the Trinamool has support of over 200 despite the defections. Among other issues, the Left and Congress leaders demanded discussions on “regular interference” in the affairs of the State by the Centre and the worsening of ties between Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the State government.

BJP’s charge

The BJP leadership said that by demanding an Assembly session in the midst of the pandemic and daring the Trinamool to prove its strength in the House, the Left and the Congress were trying to give oxygen to the State’s ruling party.

“The Left and the Congress have become an irrelevant force in Bengal politics and by such gimmicks they are trying to remain relevant and give oxygen to the Trinamool Congress,” BJP leader Shamik Bhattacharya said.