In no uncertain terms, the TMC MP has told the party chief she has to pick a side between Abhishek and senior loyalists such as himself. He puts the row down to a legal tiff that, in his view, has laid bare an air of arrogance and a trust that has been eroded at the very top.
The veteran from parliament and the bar has put an end to his role as Abhishek’s counsel. He has some strong words for the national general secretary, calling his temperament hard to work with and his way of doing things unworkable.
Why the flashpoint matters
You don’t have to look far to see Kalyan in the TMC’s corner in court. So when he steps back from Abhishek’s cases, it is a sign of undercurrents that could ruffle the party’s legal and internal order.
He is making it plain: he will still be on hand for TMC cases, but anything to do with Abhishek is off the table. He sees it as a matter of process and self-respect, not a way of leaving the fold.
Some of the issues Kalyan has put on the table:
– Left out of the loop on strategy
– What he calls ‘arrogance’ and a ‘fluctuating mindset’
– His 45 years in the field being put aside
– An end to representing Abhishek
How a court case became a problem
Kalyan says it all started in the Calcutta High Court. He was in the middle of a signature forgery case for Abhishek against the CID when something else came up.
Before the bench, the MP had pointed out that the CID’s searches at the TMC office in Kalighat and at Abhishek’s place on Camac Street were part of the same file. The judge was to hear on it this Thursday, he said.
Then some of the party’s people let him in on a fact: the Diamond Harbour MP had put in a separate writ on the raid. Kalyan says he was in the dark about it until he was told it was ‘on orders from above’.
To him, that was a recipe for muddying the waters. ‘If I had been in the know, I wouldn’t have brought it up before the judge; you can’t have two benches on one thing,’ he said. A bit of a shock, and one that could have been put to rest.
Kalyan’s conditions for staying on
The Sreerampur MP is done with any of Abhishek’s petitions. He’s been told a younger lawyer will be put in his stead for those, which he finds he can’t countenance.
‘I am not to be treated like a dustbin or some staff in his Camac Street office,’ Kalyan said, chiding Abhishek for having little regard for his professional history. For him, it is a question of principle within the party.
He has made his position on his future with the TMC unambiguous. ‘Abhishek, with his boss-like ways and how he treats seniors, is not my leader in the party.’ He will only stay if Abhishek is put in his place as a regular worker.
What Mamata must weigh next
Kalyan has left the ball in Mamata Banerjee's court. He wants to know if the party is to be steered by her nephew or by the workers who have been with her for the long haul.
‘Didi has to make the final call on whether she keeps her kin or someone like me who has given 40 years of his life to her and the party,’ he put it. There is no room for him in the TMC if Abhishek is in charge, he added.
It is a test for the party on how it deals with its own and the law in delicate situations. But for the time being, Kalyan has made his point: it is up to Mamata to decide.
