MP Saumitra Khan's defection shows a rebellion may be brewing in TMC

Although as many as 1,600 grassroots TMC leaders and workers have switched to the BJP in the recent past, Khan's defection is the first instance of a Lok Sabha MP changing sides

Saumitra Khan, a Lok Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from West Bengal’s Bishnupur constituency (that falls in Bankura district), resigned from the party and his seat, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  Khan, in 2014, won the seat by a margin of nearly 150,000 votes, defeating the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M). Bishnupur is a reserved Scheduled Caste (SC) seat.

But does this defection even matter to the TMC?

Although as many as 1,600 grassroot TMC leaders and workers switched to the BJP in the recent past, Khan’s defection is the first instance of a Lok Sabha MP changing sides. For the record, Khan told Business Standard: “The TMC has become a dynastic party and it doesn’t give deserving leaders their due. The party wasn’t happy with my popularity and wanted to unsettle me. Although they (TMC) are in power, they have been resorting to violence to retain their vote share and seats.” He added:  “For the first time, any party in the country has actually given a thought for the poor. Not all upper caste people are well-to-do and not all lower caste people are poor.”

Khan’s diatribe has not gone unchallenged. The TMC has questioned Khan’s handling of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds. Khan, along with Anupam Hazra, Lok Sabha MP from the Bolpur constituency, has been “expelled” amid swirling allegations of corruption. The police have registered a case of corruption in the recruitment of primary teachers in the Bankura district. Susanta Dan, Khan’s assistant, was arrested earlier this week, literally hours after Khan jumped ship.

But the fact is, leaders like Khan and Hazra are minnows before the towering personality of TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While it is true that Khan’s exit had led to the exit of the TMC face from Bishnupur, a replacement will likely be found; anyway, the TMC is banking on Banerjee’s appeal .
 

Dilip Ghosh, the BJP’s state president, claimed other TMC leaders were in discussion with the party for a possible switchover. “There are numerous leaders, both at the grassroots and the top level, not only from the TMC, but from the Left as well as the Congress, who want to join the BJP. But the TMC is coercing their members to maintain its allegiance to Banerjee. These leaders are threatened with dire consequences and police probe when they express their frustration inside the TMC circles," Ghose alleged.

Khan’s exit points to a deeper malaise in the TMC. Locals claim that he was forced to leave because he could not get along with the local TMC heavyweight, Anubrata Mandal. “Khan sensed that he might be denied a ticket from the TMC in the Lok Sabha election and his political career could end. He is not the only one to face such insecurities. There are others as well,” said political commentator Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chaudhury. 

And all said and done, Khan’s exit might have little or no effect on the TMC, but could affect equations in the BJP. The party has heavy stakes in the 2019 elections: Although it won only three seats in the 2016 Assembly elections, in the 2018 Panchayat election, to everyone’s surprise, the BJP emerged as the main opposition party. It expects to capture at least 22 seats of the 42 in the Lok Sabha election from this state. Currently, it has just two.