A group of councillors of the Gangarampur municipality and the vice-chairman there have sought a no-confidence motion against the present chairman of the civic board, Prasanta Mitra, who was recently “sacked” by the district Trinamul Congress president Arpita Ghosh for alleged anti-party activities. Nine of the 18 councillors have submitted a letter, seeking the motion, to the chairman.

On the other hand, the chairman resumed office this morning. Mr Mitra claimed that the no-confidence motion, if brought about, would be illegal, as, according to him, the district president has no right to sack party members.

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Mr Mitra is the brother of Biplab Mitra, the former district president of the Trinamul Congress, who recently joined the BJP. No sooner had Biplab Mitra and some other leaders joined the BJP from the TMC, top leaders of the district Trinamul Congress “sacked” all other leaders associated with Mr Mitra, including his two brothers.

Arpita Ghosh has, meanwhile, met the councillors of the Gangarampur and Buniadpur municipalities and has tried to manage the situation and convince the councillors to remain with the Trinamul Congress. “Not only the municipalities, but the Zilla Parishad is also a challenge for her as 10 ZP members have already joined the saffron brigade,” observers said.

“The process of seeking a no-confidence motion is wrong. The vice-chairman of the Gangarampur municipality has a dream of becoming the chairman. I can say that most of the councillors are with me and they will vote for me. I can prove my majority any time they want. The vicechairman and the district president of the Trinamul Congress have mounted pressure on the councillors and threatened them with police cases if they did not sign the letter. This should be stopped. The people of Gangarampur is with us and they will give a befitting reply to outsiders,” Prasanta Mitra said.

“The district president has no right to sack me from party membership. I have not joined any other party and they cannot prove allegations against me. Moreover, I never think Arpita can be our district president. In South Dinajpur, there are so many able leaders to be the president of the Trinamul Congress. I will fight till the end and will prove that the people of Gangarampur are with us,” he added.

Mrs Ghosh, however, said that there is no place for corrupt leaders in the party. “We have evidence and documents to prove their corruption. Being the district president, I have the right to take decisions. The no-confidence is an official matter and the administration will take action as per the law. I can only assure that most of the councillors are with the Trinamul and the Gangarampur municipality will be governed by the Trinamul Congress in the future,” she said.