Trinamool Congress in serious trouble

The party possibly on its way to political oblivion after the debacles both in the Lok Sabha and municipal elections in West Bengal which is forcing many of the top rung minority Muslim leaders in the party to rethink their strategy.

The only recourse left for them now is to return to the Congress fold. Sudip Bandopadhaya, has already done that. Two other former MPs, Bikram Sarkar and Akbar Ali Khondkar, are also planning to return to the Congress Party. In fact, the Muslim wing of the party is determined to cut off all ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders and MLAs like Sultan Ahmed, Javed Khan, Samsujjaman Ansari and Iqbal Ahmed are more or less decided that if the Trinamool Congress does not severe ties with the BJP then they would quit. Of the four, Iqbal Ahmed is contesting as a Congress candidate for a post in the accounts committee of the Kolkata City Corporation.

Amidst party turmoil, firebrand Mamata Bannerjee is maintaining a stoic silence. In the past she used to threaten everyone with disciplinary measures like suspension. But now she is following the path of keeping her mouth shut as the best form of defence.

But pressures from within are increasing and the group demand of the minority wing is to cut off ties with the BJP immediately.

Sultan Ahmed in a letter to the Trinamool chairperson has stated, "It was because of the BJP that the Trinamool fared poorly. I have lost the Lok Sabha elections because of non-cooperation from the BJP. I am very tired now and so I will not contest the Assembly elections in 2006."