Fresh signs of unease in the Trinamool Congress have surfaced over the past few days on the issue of general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s absence at the party’s key event on November 23.
On November 23, party chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed the party rank and file at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium. The Chief Minister’s nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Mr. Banerjee was conspicuous by his absence.
The Trinamool national general secretary made a brief appearance virtually on a giant screen at the stadium to greet the gathering with folded hands. The Chief Minister said the party general secretary was missing because of medical issues relating to an eye injury which he had suffered in 2016.
The very next day party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, who is believed to be close to Mr. Banerjee, said the general secretary’s photograph should have been there at the programme
“There is no tiff between the old and the new. It is not about Mamata Banerjee against Abhishek Banerjee; both are a team. The party needs both of them. However, I feel that any major programme of Trinamool cannot be held without Abhishek Banerjee. His photograph should have been there at the programme yesterday,” the party spokesperson had told a Bengali news channel on November 24.
‘Held in a hurry’
The controversy did not end with remarks of the party spokesperson. On Monday, November 27, another party leader and MLA Madan Mitra spoke on similar lines and said the event at the Netaji Indoor Stadium was organised in a hurry.
“I read the newspaper and found out about it [Trinamool event]. That is, everything was done in a hurry. Because there was an industry conference the day before, a film festival after it,” the Kamarhati MLA said.
Mr. Mitra drew a cricket analogy and said if Sunil Gavaskar had continued to play for India there would have not been a Sachin Tendulkar and if Sachin had continued to play there would not have been a Virat Kohli. Another party MLA Tapas Roy also put his weight behind Mr. Banerjee and added that, “Abhishek’s leadership is very essential for the party”.
While the issue of succession in Trinamool has been dealt with and Mr. Banerjee has emerged as an undisputed number two in the party after Ms. Banerjee, differences between the old guards and new turks is about functioning and decision making in the party.
Insiders in the Trinamool say that the decision by the Chief Minister to stand by the scam-tainted Ministers, particularly Jyoti Priya Mallick, arrested in alleged ration scam, did not go well with the party’s general secretary.
Mr. Banerjee has led the campaign against the denial of wages under the MGNREGA both in Delhi and Kolkata. He also did not take kindly to the miss of his declared deadline of November 1 to resume the agitation if the Centre didn’t release the funds due to West Bengal. Recently, the Diamond Harbour MP has confined political activities to his Lok Sabha constituency. On Monday, Mr. Banerjee reached out to the MGNREGA workers, who have been denied wages, through a letter, which stated that the party will compensate them.
