TMC junks speculation over missing MPs, MLAs

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday rubbished speculation about its absentee MPs and MLAs at the party workers’ conference for South 24 Parganas in Pailan, which was attended by CM Mamata Banerjee and MP Abhishek Banerjee.
TMC said MPs Mimi Chakraborty and Pratima Mondal were not in Kolkata. Among absentee MLAs, it said, Abdur Rezzak Mollah and Monturam Pakhira were unwell while Jibon Mukherjee had informed the party that he had “personal commitments”.
District Trinamool spokesperson Tarun Ray said: “Among the MLAs who could not attend today, three had informed us beforehand. All speculations are unfounded. As for Debashree Roy, she hasn’t informed us.”
Ray said Mondal, the party’s Lok Sabha MP from Joynagar, was in Delhi. Mimi, her manager told TOI, is in Goa and expected to return to Kolkata on Friday. On Thursday, Mimi even posted a video on her Instagram account, of her and actor Parno Mitra swaying to a viral song.
Mondal had skipped a party meeting earlier. Back then she had said she had not been invited. Debashree, the party’s Raidighi MLA, has distanced herself from Trinamool after she was spotted at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.