TMC office row: Rebels cite Firhad sign, Didi hits back

Kolkata: The rebel MLAs’ attempt to “take control” of the Trinamool party office at Metropolitan off the EM Bypass took a dramatic turn on Saturday, with rebel MLA Akhruzzaman claiming that former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim — now in the rebel camp — had signed the tenancy agreement with landlord Montu Saha on behalf of the party.Mamata Banerjee counter-argued that authorised signatories lose that right once they quit. Amid the political battle, the landlord’s representative arrived and unlocked the gates in the afternoon.“Ask Firhad Hakim,” Akhruzzaman told reporters. “To say we have taken control is wrong. Firhad Hakim had signed the agreement with the landlord, and he was with us when we went there. It is a Trinamool party office, and we are Trinamool.

We will hold our party meetings there subsequently.” Rebel neta Ritabrata Banerjee told reporters: “All questions can be best answered by the landlord.”Mamata hit back: “This office is not anyone’s personal property, it is the organisational property of Trinamool. All expenses — the lease, rent, maintenance and electricity bills — have been regularly paid through proper documentation and cheques. No one can take control of it by force.”

Without naming Hakim, she added: “They might have been authorised signatories before, but after leaving the party, they no longer have that right.”Around midday, a man arrived at the locked gates and opened them. He said he had been sent by Amit Saha, son of landlord Montu Saha, and had spoken to the police before coming. Asked where he got the keys, he said: “Sir gave me.” Asked who his “sir” was, he said “I cannot say.” Asked his name: “I will not say.”The building on Canal South Road wore the markings of the split literally — two sets of posters on the gate, one bearing Arup Roy’s name as chairperson with the party symbol, the other featuring Mamata’s photograph with the same symbol. Cops and central forces kept a close watch, turning away curious onlookers and bikers.Residents of neighbouring apartments, who had watched Friday’s confrontation live from their balconies, were back at their windows on Saturday. “The internal fight of the party should not spill onto the road this way,” said one neighbour. Local resident Tapas Mitra, who has lived nearby for three decades, said: “Before the election, all these workers were seen together at this office. Now their feud has come into public view.

We are spectators of this drama — and maybe there’s more to watch.”