By Ashis Biswas
KOLKATA: In the end, the outcome of the high level Trinamool Congress (TMC) meeting last month was disappointing.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is usually at her attacking best whenever she feels politically cornered. There was no better time like the present, if she wanted to take on her critics, who have been tearing into her over the multi-crore rupees Saradha chit fund scam and then the disastrous Burdwan bomb blast.
Among media circles, who had been not allowed entry into the meeting speculation was strong that she would in addition to delivering a hard hitting diatribe against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announce a new party programme. The objective would be to encourage and enthuse her followers, most of whom have looked off-colour of late in the face of a relentless attack from the media and the opposition parties.
Disappointingly for her followers, none of this happened. What the faithful got instead of the stirring words and a new plan of action they expected, was a curious reshuffle that left the party vulnerable to the possibility of future splits.
In brief, Ms Banerjee clipped the wings of the number two man in the TMC, All India General Secretary Mukul Roy and sidelined those considered loyal to him. Instead, she propped up young MP Abhishek Banerjee her nephew as the new rising sun within the TMC.
Interestingly, from among TMC circles, there was neither support nor opposition for the changes Ms Banerjee made within the party organisation, without giving any kind of direction as to how the party would respond to the challenges it was facing at a very difficult time. Observers and analysts however, had a field day in figuring out what could possibly happen within the TMC from here on.
There was little doubt that Roy was living on borrowed time ever since the CBI’s Saradha inquiry process edged closer and closer to him and his son. Like state Minister Madan Mitra, whose Saradha links seemed to be established, Roy too virtually became a persona non grata with Ms Banerjee. She had announced earlier that the party would not defend anyone accused of corruption, for which they would be held personally accountable. The gesture would enable her to claim that (a) she personally not dishonest and (b) the party did not support corruption. IT is another matter that neither Mitra has been dropped from the Ministry , nor Roy totally divested of his responsibilities within the TMC.
Roy’s ‘enemies’ within the TMC, such as the influential Adhikari family of Midnapore, were happy to see their prominence partially restored , with pro-Roy elements relieved of their posts in their district. With the decline of Roy as the number two person in TMC, the way was made clear for young Abhishek to take over. Abhishek led the party’s dharna against the BJP at Jantar Mantar, while Roy played second fiddle, the press photographs on the non event showing him to have been none too happy!
The leadership of the student and youth wings went to a relatively unknown leader from Asansol, while the man replaced, the controversial Shankudeb Panda, was now one of the party Secretaries. MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Minister Subrata Mukherjee would look after women and labour related issues, the latter eclipsing Ms Dola Sen. Instead of Roy, Minister Partha Chatterjee and Dr Amit Mitra would be the chief spokesmen of the party, for media persons.
In promoting Abhishek as her heir apparent, Ms Banerjee exposed her increasing weakness as a ruling Chief Minister buckling under pressure, according to observers. She belied her own proud claims made several times in public rallies, to the effect that she had neither a family nor close relatives in politics. The argument was, there was no way she could be accused of corruption or promoting family interests. “What about her tall claims now, about not having or promoting family? And why doesn’t she come clean on the Saradha corruption within her party and its anti-national links with the banned Jamat-e-islami and Muslim fundamentalists, to secure its Muslim vote bank ?’, asked Dr Suryakanta Mishra, CPI(M) leader of opposition in the state Assembly.
In public, most TMC leaders from Mitra to Mukherjee murmured a none-too-enthusiastic support of the ‘The Chief Minister knows best’ variety, about the changes made. Not that they had much choice. What also went against Roy, whose importance within the TMC could never be minimised according to Mukherjee, was his promptness in accepting within the TMC fold all deserters and defectors from other parties regardless of their past background. While this seemed to inflate the number of TMC activists in paper, maintaining party was almost impossible. The newcomers enjoyed more prominence and backing which riled the old faithfuls, leading to anger and dissidence.
So much so that of late, most political clashes in Bengal have been occurring between rival TMC factions, from north Bengal to South. During the last six months, TMC supporters killed in intra party clashes have crossed 50, according to police sources. Earlier, the CPI(M) claimed to have had at least 150 supporters killed by TMC men since 2011. but of late such complaints are heard no more.
There is virtually nothing within the TMC that has happened without Roy knowing about it. His tenure as the number 2 in the party was very effectively utilised politically. Unless he receives better treatment from Ms Banerjee, there would be nothing to stop him and the sidelined loyalists like Madan Mitra to form an effective dissident block within the party by banding together in the hour of their banishment from power. There are reports that influential leaders in Midnapore and other districts are already in close touch with the Congress and even the BJP, of late. Such men would not take kindly to the idea of Abhishek’s sudden emergence as the new power centre within the TMC.
The next few months should prove crucial for the TMC organisationally. (IPA Service)
