TMC rebels speak in different voices on ‘Maha model’

Kolkata: Trinamool's rebel bloc members may have extended support to the NDA, but several of them are opposed to replicating the Maharashtra model in Bengal and staking claim to the TMC party name and symbol.The Maharashtra model refers to the 2022 Sena split, in which two-thirds of legislators defected, avoided disqualification under the anti-defection law, and staked claim to the party's name and symbol.This comes even as BJP seniors in Delhi said as many as 19 TMC LS MPs have signed the letter to be submitted to Speaker Om Birla, who was in Chandigarh on Tuesday and would take a final call.With the numbers backing them, the rebel MPs can also move Election Commission to stake claim to TMC's party name and symbol.Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, who resigned from the RS, referred to this internal rift while speaking to a private Bengali news channel. "Initially, there was confusion about which path to take. Bhupender Yadav (Union minister) and Suvendu Adhikari clarified this. The Maharashtra model came up. There was a discussion about former CJI DY Chandrachud's verdict (the 2023 Constitution bench verdict in the Shiv Sena case). Bhupender (Yadav) mentioned that they had consulted constitutional analysts, and he was explaining what they had said to the MPs," he said.Before boarding a flight to Kolkata from Delhi, Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy told TOI: "Kakolidi (Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar) is giving all the interviews regarding the process and what is going on. Let her speak. I am blank and not thinking much"Actor-MP Dev said: "I will reserve my comment. I hardly attend Parliament. I didn't even attend the voting session for the Women's Reservation Bill. Besides, my shoots are on." Earlier, stepping out of CM Adhikari's administrative meeting in Kolaghat, Dev said: "I am not joining the new TMC. As long as Mamata Banerjee is alive, I am with her."Actor and TMC MP Rachna Banerjee said: "I am in Malaysia now. I will return on June 15. I will decide after I talk to the honorable CM."The other rebel MPs also sounded ambiguous about their future course. Jaynagar MP Pratima Mondal said: "I have neither signed the letter online nor offline. I am in Kolkata."Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan said, "I haven't signed. We are not getting into all this trouble."Mathurapur MP Bapi Halder said: "I am among those MPs who signed." Burdwan East MP Sharmila Sarkar said she had "nothing to say".TMC's RS MP and actor Koel Mallick on Tuesday dispelled rumours of her resignation. Asked if she had sought an appointment with the RS chairperson, she said "no".