Mukul rubbishes reports about forming new party

Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy today rubbished reports that he was looking to form a new political outfit, a day after party chief Mamata Banerjee virtually initiated the process of clipping the wings of the party number two in a major reshuffle of its organisation.

"I do not want to comment on matters which are not related to reality," Roy told PTI when asked about reports that he was aiming to split Trinamool Congress and form a new party.

The comments came a day after Roy was left out in the cold by Banerjee in its organisational shake-up. In what was described as a move designed to clip Roy's wings, Banerjee yesterday brought about a major reshuffle of the TMC organisation.

She made her close associate Subrata Bakshi the new all-India additional general secretary of the party and elevated former Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi to the vice president's post. Roy, who has been made to share responsibility with Bakshi, was conspicuous by his absence from the closed-door meeting convened at Banerjee's residence to discuss the party's preparedness for the upcoming civic polls.