Kolkata: A new fissure is seen inside Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a section of the party wants party’s national secretary Abhishek Banerjee to become the Home Minister of the state.
This development started after a man was seen trying to shoot party’s councillor Sushanta Ghosh outside his house on November 16 at Kasba area in south Kolkata.
Soon after the incident, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim came down heavily on the police and also senior TMC leader and MP Sougata Roy claimed that arms being bought from Bihar to Kolkata is a ‘failure’ of Kolkata police.
After the development, TMC’s Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir mentioned that he wants party’s national secretary Abhishek Banerjee to become the deputy Chief Minister and full-time Home Minister.
“Mamata didi is over burdened with her responsibilities. In order to ease her, Abhishek Banerjee should be given the post of deputy CM and full-time HM. Apart from West Bengal, Mamata didi has to take care of national politics and also the I.N.D.I.A alliance where TMC is a part of,” mentioned Kabir.
However, KMC Mayor Hakim made it clear that he is not in favour of the rise in power of Abhishek Banerjee.
“We have won the elections by showing Mamata Banerjee’s picture. She is capable of doing everything. Those who are making tall claims should first win an election without the face and picture of Mamata Banerjee,” added Hakim.
Former cabinet minister and TMC MLA also joined the chorus with Hakim and said, “I can show cars which are over 80 years old and yet they run better than cars of this era.” Poll analyst Subhamoy Maitra said the ‘fissure’ and the ‘infighting’ might be partially ‘scripted’.
“The verbal brawl between the leaders could be scripted as it is happening in front of the media. Such things can also get sorted inside party meetings. People of West Bengal are basically liking the brawl and it is the duty of TMC to please the voters by offering things they like as these voters have voted them to power. Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee are in the top position in TMC. They will have infighting but yet again they will walk together. It is like a superposition of both the events as in quantum physics,” said Maitra.
Notably, in the recent past, Abhishek Banerjee had hinted towards a major reshuffle in the party’s organization and also mentioned that he had given few suggestions but the remaining is up to the party Supremo Mamata Banerjee.
It can be recalled that in December 2023, controversy erupted after Banerjee had mentioned that there should be an age limit for the politicians which the young leaders had supported while veteran leaders like Sougata Roy and Sudip Bandhopadhyay had objected.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday had slammed a section of police of lower ranks for encouraging sand and coal smuggling in the state.
The Chief Minister also mentioned reshuffling the CID. Amid controversy with the tablet scam in the state, Mamata said that Rs 1600 crore has been spent to give tabs to the students.
“Some 1911 students have been duped. There are gangs like Jamtara which are operating and doing such things. Naka checking will be done at every border strictly. Such criminals come and take shelter in the shopping malls and complexes. Strict vigil will be kept. The central government should also take necessary actions,” added Mamata.
