NEW DELHI: A meeting of newly elected Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators, scheduled to be chaired by party supremo
Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, was called off after nearly three-fourths of the party's 80 MLAs failed to attend.
The party said that the low turnout was due to the "sudden and emergent ground situation" after the alleged attack on TMC general secretary and Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee and party MP Kalyan Banerjee.
"The meeting was pre-scheduled. However, in the aftermath of the attacks on our leaders, our MLAs are organising protest programmes at the ground level, following which severe police action has been unleashed on our workers," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told reporters outside Mamata's Kalighat residence, where the meeting was scheduled to take place.
"The absentee MLAs, who are stuck with managing the ground situation, assisting our workers who have been arrested, had informed the legislative party of the developments and requested if the meeting could be temporarily postponed," he added.
According to Ghosh, the party decided to defer the meeting after receiving what he described as a "legitimate request" from legislators, despite around 20 MLAs having already arrived at the venue.
"We will hold this meeting at a later date, the details of which will be duly communicated to our MLAs. All our legislators have communicated that they are firmly standing with the party during these difficult times," he said.
Party sources said Mamata Banerjee held informal discussions with the leaders who were present.
Ghosh also announced a series of protest programmes over the next 48 hours. "We have asked our leaders to organise protest rallies at block levels in rural areas and at the municipal wards in the state's urban pockets on Monday, June 1," he said.
"The rallies will decry the attacks on our leaders Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee and all our workers who are victims of BJP's post-poll terror," he added.
He further announced a day-long symbolic sit-in protest in Kolkata on Tuesday, to be led by Mamata Banerjee.
"The one-day symbolic sit-in protest will be held at the Rani Rashmoni Road protest site in Esplanade against the ongoing post-poll violence and the inhumane hawker eviction that are being carried out by means of bulldozers across the state," Ghosh said.
"The subsequent political programmes of our party will be announced from the dharna platform on June 2," he added.
Also read: Kalyan Banerjee assault row: Mamata meets TMC MP; BJP denies involvement - top developmentsThis development comes after earlier in the day, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee alleged that he was attacked by BJP workers near Chanditala Police Station in Hooghly district while on his way to submit a deputation regarding post-poll violence.
The incident comed after on Saturday, Abhishek Banerjee was allegedly attacked in South 24 Parganas while visiting the family of TMC worker Sanju Karmakar, whom the party claims was killed by "BJP-backed miscreants" during post-poll violence.
According to police, stones, eggs and shoes were hurled at Banerjee during his visit. Witnesses said a group of unidentified people shouted "thief" slogans, threw objects at the TMC MP and allegedly attempted to assault him.
Videos from the scene showed Banerjee being escorted away by security personnel wearing a police helmet, with his shirt visibly torn during the scuffle.
The incident has triggered a fresh political confrontation in West Bengal, with TMC workers staging protests across the state on Sunday.
While the TMC has described the attack as a planned assault, the BJP has rejected the allegation, claiming local residents were expressing anger against the former ruling party's leadership.
Also read: 'They wanted to kill me': TMC's Abhishek Banerjee attacked by mob, eggs & stones hurled - Watch
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