Mamata Banerjee to hold emergency meeting as rift over 'One Person, One Post' widens in TMC

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee will hold an emergency meeting with senior leaders on Saturday amid increasing rift between party leaders loyal to her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and the old guard over 'One Person, One Post'.

The meeting will be held at Banerjee`s Kalighat office at 5 pm. According to sources, the issue of the candidate list for the upcoming municipal elections in the state will be among the key issues to be discussed. 

It is believed that many of the top leaders are unhappy with the distribution of tickets for the municipal polls. There is also a murmur of two factions in the party and efforts will be made to resolve the issue. 

Further, the issue of the social media campaign "One Person, One Post" run by some leaders in the party is also likely to be discussed during the meeting, said sources.

Notably, a fresh row on "One Person, One Post" sparked after TMC leader and minister in Mamata Banerjee`s government Chandrima Bhattacharya posted the slogan on her social media handle. However, she later claimed that the post was done by consultancy group I-PAC. 

"This has been done without my consent. It is done by IPAC and I think it is a crime," Bhattacharya told news agency ANI. Meanwhile, I-PAC refuted the allegations by the minister and said it does not manage the digital handles of TMC and its leaders.

"I-PAC does not handle any digital properties of All India Trinamool Congress or any of its leaders. Anyone making such a claim is either uninformed or is blatantly lying. AITC should look into if and how their digital properties and/or that of their leaders are being allegedly (mis) used," tweeted I-PAC.

Meanwhile, in a big political development in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) state general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Friday demanded the arrest of party colleague Mukul Roy in the Saradha and Narada case while calling him a "BJP leader".

Taking to Twitter the TMC spokesperson said, "CBI and ED should arrest BJP leader Mukul Roy in Saradha and Narada case. I have already sent them a letter praying for joint interrogation with him. He is an influential conspirator. He has used different parties only for his personal protection. Mukul Roy should not be spared."