Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) As Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) battles turmoil within and faces ouster of legislators as well as Parliamentarians, a month after the recent West Bengal Assembly poll defeat, the beleaguered party found support from one of its Rajya Sabha MPs Babul Supriyo.

Supriyo on Thursday issued a small video message on social media platform X and said in clear terms that he was neither joining any party nor any faction, apparently referring to the rebel bloc proposed by the MPs quitting the TMC.

Supriyo’s video message comes as a major respite for the embattled Mamata Banerjee and TMC as she has been struggling to keep the flock together, though with little success.

“Amidst all this confusion and rumours, I just wish to make it amply clear that I am neither joining any other faction nor any party,” the Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP is heard saying in the video.

“It’s inappropriate to abandon a ship when it is in troubled waters,” said the Rajya Sabha MP, who was previously with the Bharatiya Janata Party and also served in key positions.

Earlier on Thursday, his cryptic post reignited speculations about his imminent exit from the Trinamool Congress.

In a Facebook post, Supriyo recalled instances of working with political rivals in the past, including his tenure in the BJP. This triggered speculations and interpretations by political observers as they saw it as a clever attempt to keep the window open for switching loyalties, when opportune time comes.

Babul Supriyo’s support for the ‘sinking ship’ (TMC) comes at a time when the latter faces exodus of top leaders, including the founding members.

In the past three days, three TMC Rajya Sabha MPs namely Sushmita Dev, Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy have resigned from the party and the Upper House, thereby adding strength to speculations of mass exits in coming days.

Babul Supriyo’s support comes on back of fellow party MPs Shatrughan Singh and Pratima Mandal, who denied being part of the rebel group and vowed allegiance to Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.

Shatrughan Sinha said that he stands firmly behind Mamata Banerjee and he wouldn’t abandon her.

Another TMC MP Pratima Mandal, whose name was reportedly in the list of the defecting MPs submitted by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar-led camp, also denied being part of the group.

“This news is completely false,” she said and also dared the rebel camp to release the list of rebel MPs deciding to quit the Trinamool Congress.

–IANS

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