Kolkata, June 12 (IANS) With dissent within the Trinamool Congress refusing to abate, MP Kirti Azad accused the BJP on Friday of causing the rift within the Mamata Banerjee-led party, quipping: “Operation Lotus never fails”.

The former cricketer’s reaction comes after three pages carrying signatures of 19 rebel Trinamool MPs surfaced earlier in the day, reportedly claiming to be the main and majority bloc of the party’s representation in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to IANS, Azad said: “There is no loss for Trinamool Congress. The party stands on the name of Mamata Banerjee. She has built the party through struggle. No one can claim that they win elections in Trinamool solely in their individual capacity. Such kind of thinking is a misconception.”

Regarding the rebel MPs, he said: “We knew they would go; five to six of them had CID raids at their residences. BJP workers were threatening them, and the police were not allowing locals to come in. Houses of the first-time MPs were demolished, so they were scared. We knew that some of them might take a decision like this.”

Targeting the BJP, Kirti Azad said: “Operation Lotus never fails.”

However, he questioned why the rebel MPs were taking such a decision only after the party lost the Assembly polls.

“It is evident from the signatures in the letter that those were not taken on one day, and instead taken from MPs at different points of time. The ink used for the signatures by the MPs is starkly different from each other, like the one used by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar,” he alleged.

Responding to a question over Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee’s ultimatum to Mamata Banerjee to “choose” between him and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Azad said: “Our leader Mamata Banerjee will look into the matter. Kalyan Banerjee has been a very strong and dedicated soldier of the party. There does not seem to be any possibility of him leaving the party.”

Further, he accused the BJP of attempting to finish the Trinamool.

“Shiv Sena and NCP have already been split. Nitish Kumar has been removed from his position as Chief Minister and sent to the Rajya Sabha. JJP in Haryana has also been destroyed by them. They (BJP) don’t want the Opposition to exist in India; that is BJP’s ideology,” he alleged.

Moreover, he added, “BJP wants the support of two-thirds of the members in the Parliament to pass the Delimitation Bill.”

—IANS

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