Within the TMC, there has been no set procedure regarding the disciplining of errant members. This is natural given the one-leader party's functioning style. Indiscipline or anti party activities are punishable according to the prevailing mood of the chief minister. Recently, she set up a disciplinary committee consisting of Mr. Partha Chatterjee and Mr. Subrata Baxi, among others. It is common knowledge that for all its 'powers' on paper, this committee cannot take any decision without Ms. Banerjee's approval.

The strongest action within the TMC so far has been taken against Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh. The MP is currently in jail for his alleged involvement in the multi-billion-rupee Saradha chit fund scam. Ghosh was arrested by the state police on the orders of the Chief Minister not for his Saradha involvement, but for having spoken out against other party figures including the CM. The MP had alleged that they had received more illegal benefits from the Saradha bosses than him.

On the other hand, former Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who had proposed an increase in passenger fares during his tenure, lost his job because he had defied the party stand on the issue. He remains the only Union Minister to lose his job even before his proposed budget proposals could be passed! Until recently though there were no tensions between Trivedi and the TMC leadership, as the former minister maintained a low profile and was not pulled up further by Ms. Banerjee.

When it comes to West Bengal, at least seven Ministers, including the heavyweight Partha Chatterjee, have been shifted for their 'failure' to run certain departments well. None has fallen totally out of favour, although some like Rabindranath Ghosh, Savitri Devi and Humayun Choudhury are known to be sulking.

There is also a perception that at lower 'activist' level, Ms. Banerjee is unwilling to take any action against the most flagrant forms of ugly behavior and crimes including rapes, incitement to violence against political opponents and even the police atrocities, examples are too numerous to need mention, either through the party machinery or the police, which she heads. The official 'protection' to TMC- backed criminal activities has prompted the Cong(I), the Left Front and the BJP to complain that the rule of jungle prevails in the state.

Official inaction against crimes against women and political opponents of the TMC has repeatedly drawn the ire of the Supreme Court, the Kolkata High Court and Constitutional authorities like the Human Rights Commission and women-centric rights organisations. But even the public condemnation of the state government has not had the slightest effect on the functioning of the state administration or the police department.

Of late and especially with the growing clout of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, inner-party criticism of what may be described as state-supported anti social behaviour has grown stronger. This has been accompanied by a growing shift of members and supporters of the Cong(I), the LF and even the TMC dissidents, at lowers levels to the BJP.

With the BJP also encouraging the process and keen to expand its membership base, which has grown from around only 100,000 in 2014 to over 13,00,000 now and counting, the urge among dissidents of other parties to flock to it is understandable. TMC leaders including Ms. Banerjee tend to underplay such facts in their speeches, but their concern shows when the CM says at public rallies, “Those who want to join the BJP are free to go.”

No wonder, the recent decline in the fortunes of the TMC have emboldened MPs like Trivedi, Anupam Hazra, Debabrata Bandopadhyay, MLAs Tapan Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Dutta, Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Sadhan Pandey to speak out against guardedly against the party's stand on issues like the Saradha scam, the Jadavpur University agitation, corruption and factionalism within the TMC, the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other issues. It also indicates a nagging apprehension about their own political future!

Ms. Banerjee, herself under acute pressure because of the CBI Saradha probe and the arrest of top TMC leaders, with the needle of suspicion pointing to her own nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, is truly in a quandary. If she cracks down hard on dissidence, the TMC may lose some top leaders to the BJP, who are known to be in touch with the saffron party. On the other hand, if she does not act, dissidence would grow. Moreover, her own stature as the undisputed party leader would be open to challenge.

As an analyst explains, “She stands to lose both ways. It seems her advisers could not point out to her that whenever all power resides in a single individual in any organisation, discipline runs well so long as the going is good. But factions are born, which raise their heads at the opportune moment. Unless there is statesmanship at the top, the afflicted party simply implodes!” (IPA Service)