Trinamul on Monday made several changes in its organisation in the districts, attributing them to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, largely to strengthen identified areas of weakness in the run-up to the crucial Lok Sabha election.
The reshuffle took months of planning and discussions in which Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee participated actively, and came into effect after final approval from his aunt and party chairperson Mamata.
At the district level, this was Trinamul's biggest shake-up since July 23, 2020.
“Similar changes ahead of 2021 proved favourable. This time, it was conceived by Abhishek, and greenlit by her (Mamata) ahead of the rural polls, and plans were drawn up soon after…. The areas of weakness were taken note of through the (panchayat) poll season,” said a Trinamul insider.
“Days after Abhishek returned from the US (on August 20), the talks began,” said a senior in Trinamul, adding some districts identified were East Midnapore, Murshidabad, Bankura, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas and Birbhum.
Trinamul bastion Birbhum is now a crucial part of that list because of district party president Anubrata Mondal prolonged absence after his arrest.
Birbhum’s responsibilities were entrusted to a nine-member core committee of the district leadership that would report directly to Mamata and senior leader Firhad Hakim.
The core committee is led by district chairperson and deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee and comprises Birbhum MPs Asit Mal and Satabdi Roy, MLAs Chandra Nath Sinha, Bikash Roychoudhury, and Abhijit Sinha, besides leaders Kajal Sheikh, Sudipto Ghosh, and Biswabijoy Mandi.
The elevation of Krishnagar MP Mahua Moitra — in the wake of the “cash-for-query” controversy — as the president of the Krishnagar organisational district in Nadia was deemed an exception, and a “statement of intent”.
East Midnapore’s two organisational districts, in BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s backyard, saw substantial changes. Soumen Mahapatra, Trinamul veteran who headed the Tamluk organisational district, was replaced by Asit Banerjee, an allegedly sidelined leader of the old guard. Chittaranjan Maiti was made the district chairperson. “I will fully back the new team,” said Mahapatra.
Contai went to Pijush Kanti Panda, a young leader building a reputation for feisty resistance to Adhikari. Outgoing district party president and Egra MLA Tarun Maity is now district chairperson.
“Trinamul spotted some weaknesses in East Midnapore during the rural polls, in which the BJP captured several rural bodies,” said a source.
To minimise conflict, the leadership tried striking a deft balance. Four seniors removed from posts of president or chairperson — Mridul Goswami (Alipurduar), Shaoni Singha Roy (Murshidabad), Kanai Chandra Mandal (Murshidabad), and Mahapatra — were elevated as state secretaries.
