Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Jul 4: In a decisive move to tighten her grip on the All India Trinamool Congress amid an escalating internal crisis, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday assumed the role of the party's West Bengal president, hours after Chandrima Bhattacharya resigned from the post and joined the rebel faction led by expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee.

Soon after Bhattacharya publicly announced her resignation, Mamata Banerjee addressed party workers through a Facebook Live broadcast, declaring that she would not appoint a new state president and would instead personally head the party's West Bengal unit.

During the broadcast, she also announced the appointment of senior leaders Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra as the two state general secretaries of the Trinamool Congress, reaffirming their positions among leaders who have remained loyal to her.

Mamata Banerjee also issued a sharp message to the legislators and leaders aligned with the "rebel by majority" faction headed by Ritabrata Banerjee, urging them to join the Bharatiya Janata Party openly rather than claiming to represent the "real" Trinamool Congress.

She alleged that the rebel camp was attempting to gain control of the party's name, election symbol and financial assets. While acknowledging that the rebels might try to secure the party symbol through legal or electoral processes, she asserted that the true strength of the Trinamool Congress lay with its grassroots workers and public support.

Mamata recalled that when she first received the party's election symbol, she had contested an election within a short period and said she would continue to take her message directly to the people if required. She also declared that her political voice could not be silenced through organisational challenges.

Addressing speculation over the party's annual Martyrs' Day rally scheduled for July 21, Mamata assured supporters that the programme would go ahead as planned.

Her remarks came even as the Kolkata Police has already granted permission for the rally to be held at its traditional venue near the CESC office at Esplanade in central Kolkata.

Reassuring party workers, Mamata said the Martyrs' Day gathering would be organised under any circumstances, adding that she would even address supporters while standing on a rickshaw if necessary.