Kolkata, May 22 (IANS) The growing internal feud within the Trinamool Congress following the party’s landslide defeat in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections became evident on Friday as several party councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) abstained from attending a crucial meeting of TMC councillors convened by party supremo and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The development came amid successive notices issued by the KMC to multiple properties linked to her nephew and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the last seven days.

Currently, the Trinamool Congress enjoys a majority in the KMC board with as many as 137 councillors from the party.

However, according to a councillor who attended the meeting on the strict condition of anonymity, only 100 councillors were present at the Friday afternoon meeting. The absentees included KMC Member Mayor-in-Council (MMIC) Debasish Kumar, who was defeated from the Rashbehari Assembly constituency in South Kolkata in the recently concluded Assembly polls.

“However, the Chief Minister asked the councillors present at the meeting not to get frustrated by the non-cooperation of the bureaucratic set-up in KMC in obeying the elected councillors, borough chairpersons, MMICs and even Mayor Firhad Hakim in the changed political scenario in the state. She asked the present party councillors not to get scared, but to protest and continue doing their work to the best of their ability,” the councillor present at the meeting said.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee on Friday afternoon gave his first reaction to the series of notices sent by the KMC regarding 17 properties owned or co-owned by him over the last seven days.

The properties on which notices were served by the KMC authorities included his residence on Harish Mukherjee Road in South Kolkata, which is located close to Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat.

“The KMC authorities should specify which portions of the building were illegal. Those who are asking me these questions should first ask this question to the KMC authorities. If the KMC replies, I will give my clarification. Let them mark the portions of the building that were constructed illegally. Thereafter, I will give my clarifications,” said Abhishek Banerjee.

–IANS

src/pgh