Old guards vs young turks: Abhishek Banerjee keeps mum over TMC victory in municipal polls

Critics say that this tension was actually between Abhishek Banerjee and Mamata Banerjee. It is also perceived that the national general secretary's reformist views were not endorsed by the party supremo herself. That development exactly created a division between the old guards and new blood within the party.

Kolkatta (West Bengal): TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee keeping mum over the landslide victory of Trinamool Congress in the recently concluded municipality polls in West Bengal where the party has bagged 102 out of 108 municipalities has surprised all.

The party supremo and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the people of West Bengal for the success of the Trinamool Congress through a Twitter message. After that almost 72 hours have passed but Abhishek Banerjee has not uttered a single word over the results. The question now is whether his silence is a clandestine endorsement of the allegations of election malpractices, rigging and poll-related violence on the polling day.

Recently in an interview with a television channel, Abhishek Banerjee spoke in detail about his plans to reorganise the organisational structure in Trinamool Congress. A major part of his deliberations was on bringing about internal reforms within Trinamool Congress. He was vocal in favour of implementing the "One Person, One Post: policy within the party. He was also vocal against rampant allegations of election malpractices and the use of muscle power by the ruling party activists. His free and frank opinion created an air of tension between him and the party veterans.

Critics say that this tension was actually between Abhishek Banerjee and Mamata Banerjee. It is also perceived that the national general secretary's reformist views were not endorsed by the party supremo herself. That development exactly created a division between the old guards and new blood within the party.

However, sources said that Mamata Banerjee, herself tried to bring about a settlement in the matter. For a few days, she stripped Abhishek Banerjee of his post of national general secretary. Since then Abhishek Banerjee went into the shell. He did not take any active part in the municipal polls. His silence and aloof attitude caught the attention of the political observers.

Meanwhile, veteran party MP Saugata Roy like Abhishek Banerjee had been vocal about alleged violence by the ruling party in the municipal polls. Political observers felt that infighting this time is really deep-rooted.

READ:Trinamool Congress bags 102 of 108 municipalities in West Bengal