Troubles of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress seems far from over as party sources said TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was summoned for a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday at just two-hour notice, while he was still being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).Sources said the mail to Abhishek asked him to meet Birla at 4 pm and present his case before any decision was taken regarding the party’s status. Notably, Abhishek was questioned by the ED for hours in the alleged teachers job scam on Monday.On June 14, Abhishek had written to Birla urging him not to accord recognition to any separate faction of the TMC. He had also requested that the All-India Trinamool Congress be given an opportunity to be heard before any decision was taken on any such communication, should it be received.The letter to Abhishek came after around 20 TMC MPs joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The rebel MPs have also claimed recognition as the “real TMC”.Veteran TMC leader and Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who is now a part of the rebel camp, said that decisions relating to the recognition of parliamentary groups and allocation of office space would have to be taken before the Lok Sabha reconvenes for the monsoon session in July.Earlier in the day, rebel party MP Rachna Banerjee met the Lok Sabha Secretary-General and signed the document formalising the merger.Lok Sabha MP Kirti Azad reiterated that the party, led by former CM Mamata Banerjee, was the “real TMC” and termed the move “undemocratic”. “The real TMC is led by Didi, and everyone knows Didi is Mamata,” Azad said.He described the breakaway faction as a “party of traitors” and said they were engaged in “infighting” over ministerial posts.Meanwhile in Kolkata, Abhishek was questioned for hours by the West Bengal CID today over his alleged inflammatory statements during the Assembly poll campaign.On Monday, he was grilled by the ED for hours in connection with the alleged primary school job scam.Fresh divisions within the TMC also surfaced in the West Bengal Assembly, as MLAs loyal to Mamata were not invited to the all-party meeting ahead of the budget session beginning on June 18, while members of the rebel faction led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee were invited.Amid the turmoil, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed that the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) had agreed to accept the joining of all the dissident Lok Sabha members. She also claimed that their numbers may rise.


