Rift appears within Trinamul Congress

KOLKATA: A rift within the Trinamul Congress came to the fore on Friday with Kolkata Mayor Subrata Mukherjee justifying his action of issuing show-cause notice against senior party leader Sobhandev Chattopadhyay for unruly behaviour with Kolkata Municipal Corporation Commissioner D Som.
Chattopadhyay fired a salvo against the Mayor, alleging that the show-cause notices against him and five other KMC employees were issued "only to please the CPM."
He alleged that the KMC authorities had not taken action against those owing allegiance to the CPM, while show-cause notices were served against "the innocent".
Stating that attempts were made by Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for a patch-up, he said yet the show-cause notice was served against him by the Mayor.
"When the Mayor has show-caused me, I will reply in my own way," an angry Chattopadhyay, a deputy security officer of the KMC, said. "The Mayor may be a big leader, but I will not relent."
The Mayor, however, said that he was justified in issuing the show-cause notice against Chattopadhyay and described it as "purely an administrative decision irrespective of party colour".
"It is not a question of which party I or Chattopadhyay belong to, but it is an adminitrative decision for the smooth running of the KMC," he said.
Show-cause was served against five KMC employees for raising slogans disrupting a Corporation session recently.