Abhishek Banerjee named leader of Trinamool's Parliamentary team in Lok Sabha; Kalyan Banerjee steps down as Chief Whip

Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha (LS) MP, Abhishek Banerjee, has replaced veteran and four-time party MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, as the leader of Trinamool Congress’ Parliamentary team in the Lower House of Parliament.

The announcement on this count was made by Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, at a virtual meeting on Monday, chaired by her, which was attended by all the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress.

Meanwhile, four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee, on Monday, announced after the virtual meeting that he has decided to step down as the Chief Whip of the party in the Lok Sabha.

However, it is not yet clear when Kalyan Banerjee’s replacement in that chair will be announced, or whether Abhishek Banerjee, will also operate in that role besides his new role as the leader of Trinamool Congress’ Parliamentary team in the Lok Sabha, till the time any name is announced as the permanent Chief Whip of the party.

Announcing his resignation, Kalyan Banerjee told media persons that this step was prompted by his moral obligation after the Chief Minister expressed displeasure in the virtual meeting over the lack of coordination among the party MPs on the floor of the House.

A Lok Sabha member who attended the meeting, said that there were indications by the Chief Minister at the virtual meeting that Abhishek Banerjee might have to play the dual role of leader of the party’s Parliamentary team in the Lok Sabha as well the Chief Whip, for the time being.

“The Chief Minister entrusted him with the responsibility to decide which party MP would speak on which subject in the Lok Sabha. However, that decision will have to be approved by Mamata Banerjee,” said the Lok Sabha MP who refused to be named.

Meanwhile, party insiders said that Kalyan Banerjee had earned the ire of the party leadership, including the Chief Minister, over his recent faceoff with his fellow party Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra over one of Banerjee's comments on the rape of a law college student within the college premises at Kasba in south Kolkata.

Banerjee, then, even resorted to attacking Moitra at a personal level over her recent marriage with senior advocate of the Supreme Court and former Lok Sabha MP from Puri constituency in Odisha, Pinaki Misra

--IANS

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