Murshidabad zilla parishad sabhadipati Musharraf Hossain, once close to Trinamul turncoat Suvendu Adhikari, was expelled by Trinamul district committee on Wednesday for “anti-party activities”.
The decision to expel Musharraf was taken at an hour-long meeting in Behrampore attended by the district top brass of the party, including MLAs and MPs, said district president of the Trinamul Abu Taher Khan.
Musharraf fell out of favour with Trinamul leaders since early December, when Suvendu defected to the BJP.
Speaking to this paper, Musharraf said: “It had become difficult to work with district president Abu Taher Khan, so I began to take zilla level initiatives on my own. They felt offended and expelled me from the party. I am relieved.”
Ruling out the BJP, Musharraf said he would align himself with the Congress to fight both Trinamul and the BJP in the coming Assembly elections. A Congress source said he was expected to join the party on Friday.
Sources said Musharraf had been skipping district-level party meetings and had ignored two leadership meetings with chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Murshidabad and Calcutta last month. He reportedly refused to allow Trinamul posters or banners in panchayat events since December.
The state government had withdrawn his police cover six months ago and did not reinstate it even after his written appeals to the chief minister and the governor.
Khan said Musharraf’s snubbing of Mamata’s meetings was the “final straw” and his expulsion order had been forwarded to the party leadership in Calcutta.
“He was regularly seen with Dada’r Anugami,” said a source, referring to Suvendu’s mid-year banner floated to counter Didi’s narrative prior to his formal induction into the BJP.
“Musharraf, however, will continue to hold his rural post even though he stands expelled from the party with no recourse,” said a source.
The source added that provisions of the panchayat act did not allow moving a no-trust motion against a panchayat executive till the person completed two-and-a-half years in office.
