Suman missive puts TMC on backfoot

The lone voice of dissidence that has been publicly raised within the Trinamool Congress against the Centre's proposed offensive in the Naxal-affected areas is unlikely to die down soon, unless West Bengal's principle Opposition ousts its Member of Parliament from Jadavpur — Kabir Suman.

Despite the possibility of facing the flak from his own party, the first-time parliamentarian has asserted that he will go ahead with his planned demonstration before the Parliament building.

“I sent a series of messages to Mamata Banerjee. However, she stopped replying after a point. Subsequently, I received a letter from the TMC chief whip (Sudip Bandopadhyay), which said that if I undertake the demonstration without talking to the party's parliamentary committee then it would directly violate the principles of the party,” Suman said.

Suman explained that he was amenable to meeting the committee but has stipulated that the discussion should take place before March 6. “Even if they (the committee) ask me not to go ahead, I will stage the demonstration,” he said.

Elaborating on his options if expelled from the party, Suman said that he would request the Lok Sabha Speaker to allocate him to a bench other than one he presently occupies. However, he was confident of retaining a place in the House. “I am only speaking the truth,” he said.

Although Suman has been increasingly vocal in deriding his party's reluctance in supporting, what he calls, the “people's movement” under the banner of the PCPA (People's Committee against Police Atrocities), he has clarified that he does not support the ultra-Left insurgents. The PCPA is widely considered to be a frontal organisation for the Naxalites, a fact which Suman has openly contended.

No member of Parliament, either from the TMC or otherwise, has been sympathetic towards his staunch opposition to the anti-Naxal action, termed as 'Operation Greenhunt', he said.

If Suman does actually go ahead with his planned protests outside Parliament, it could turn out to be a serious cause for concern for TMC supremo Banerjee, whose recent actions have seemingly not gone down too well with the Union Cabinet.

Last week, Banerjee is said to have ruffled a few feathers with her insistence on omitting references to the recent Naxal attack at Silda from President Pratibha Patils' Budget session address.