TMC vs TMC; Worrying signs for Mamata Banerjee

Insight Bureau: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee dissolved all party posts with immediate effect at an emergency party meeting at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata on Saturday. She also formed a committee to resolve all issues.  The national working committee consists of 19 members including Abhishek Banerjee, Amit Mitra, Partha Chatterjee, Yashwant Sinha, and Firhad Hakim.

The decision was taken in the wake of apparent rift between party leaders loyal to Abhishek Banerjee and the old guard.

The spat comes in the backdrop of the perceived power struggle in the party and apparent differences between its generation next leaders and a section of the old guard.

Fresh controversy erupted on Friday after party functionaries Aditi Gayen and Akash Banerjee, who are also relatives of Abhishek Banerjee, tweeted “I support One Person One post in AITC”.

Few other youth leaders considered close to Abhishek Banerjee also tweeted the same.

Abhishek Banerjee since assuming his party post has been advocating ‘one person one post’ in Trinamool Congress, which has not gone down well with a section of its old guard. These party seniors occupy posts both in the party and the government.

The controversy erupted last week after TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee and its president Subrata Bakshi released the party’s official list of candidates which was signed by them and a separate unsigned list of candidates popped up on the party’s official social media handle.

This led to protests in various parts of the state and disgruntled activists took to the streets, burnt tyres and raised slogans.

As the internal bickering came out in the open, Mamata Banerjee announced that the list signed by Chatterjee and Bakshi is final.

In January, veteran TMC leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee had said that he does not consider anyone else as his leader but Mamata Banerjee and criticised Abhishek Banerjee, who is the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, over a COVID-related suggestion.

Following this, Banerjee had directed all TMC MPs and leaders not to embarrass the party by airing their views and differences in public.

It is also believed that many of the top leaders are unhappy with the distribution of tickets for the municipal polls. There is also a murmur of two factions in the party and efforts will be made to resolve the issue.