A defiant Trinamul Congress MLA Sikha Mitra on Monday cocked a snook on chief minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee by publicly saluting the women of Kamduni village for raising their voices in protest against injustice. “Hats off to the women of Kamduni who showed the courage to protest,” she said in presence of her husband and party MP Somen Mitra and state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya. The husband-wife duo visited the Congress headquarters — Bidhan Bhavan — to attend a birth anniversary programme of former chief minister and Congress leader B.C. Roy. Congress workers raised “Somen Mitra Zindabad” slogans.
Ms Mitra’s lavish praise for the Kamduni women assumed importance because the chief minister had branded Kamduni women as CPI(M) workers and Maoist supporters when they had protested during her visit to the village on June 17.
Citing the example of Dr Roy, Ms Mitra said that unlike others he worked more and talked less. “Today just the opposite is happening. There is tall talk but no work,” she complained. She also declared that she did not care if action was taken against her by the party.
Last year, on the same occasion, Ms Mitra had trained guns on the chief minister ridiculing her constant lamentation about lack of funds. She had later also criticised the assault on Left Front MLAs inside the Assembly by Trinamul Congress members and called it “shameful.” The party had suspended her in December for an indefinite period.
However, on Tuesday, both Ms Mitra and her husband said that they had not yet received a formal suspension letter from the party. When asked what would be his next step, Mr Mitra said: “First let them serve the suspension notice then I will decide whether I should leave the party or my wife.”
Asked to comment on the speculations about his return to the Congress, Mr Mitra said nothing was impossible in politics. He, however, made it clear that if he decided to leave, he would inform Ms Banerjee first.