Kolkata, Jan 2 (IANS): A loaded statement by a senior Trinamool Congress leader, West Bengal municipal affairs & urban development minister, Firhad Hakim, on the occasion of the party's 28th foundation day programme, on Wednesday, sparked fresh speculation in the state's political corridors about the internal row in the party over the “fresh blood” versus “old guards" issue.

Speaking at the main function on the occasion of the special day, Hakim, who is also the Kolkata Mayor, said that being a part of the Trinamool Congress should not carry the feeling of being in power.

“There is a history of sacrifices by thousands of people behind it. Real Trinamool Congress is not just leaders and ministers moving around in cars, receiving salutes of people and 1,900 followers accompanying them,” said Hakim on Wednesday.

However, he did not specify whom he actually meant by “leaders moving around in cars and receiving salutes”.

Incidentally, earlier in the day, the party’s general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee had issued New Year wish message where he refrained from naming either Trinamool Congress or the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even once, which again sparked the gossips of the reported internal row.

Political observers feel that first Banerjee’s post and then the loaded statement by Hakim on the foundation day of the party as well as the first day of the new year drop indications of possible interesting turns within Trinamool Congress in the coming days before the crucial state assembly elections in 2026.

Last year too, differences within the party cropped up on the foundation day following some statements and counter-statements by Trinamool Congress' state president in West Bengal, Subrata Bakshi and state general secretary Kunal Ghosh.