Kolkata: Senior leadership of Trinamool Congress is still miffed with India Political Action Committee (I-PAC), founded by vote strategist Prasant Kishor, with senior party member, Kalyan Banerjee become the latest one to target I-PAC.
Even the party supremo and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s note of caution for everyone to remain united does not seem to work out. Mamata Banerjee after announcing the names of the office-bearers of the party last week said “old is gold.” A reading between the lines of her statement brings out a clear indication that the old guards in the party are to be given preference over the new hands.
TMC MP and chief minister’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, was the key man in connecting I-PAC with Trinamool Congress after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, Kalyan Banerjee has been using the choicest of abuses against I-PAC like “power broker” and “political contractor” among others. “The current tension within Trinamool Congress over the selection of candidates for the municipal polls is essentially because of I-PAC. This is because of indirect signals from a Kolkata-based leader. Had party veterans like Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Bakshi handled the affairs there would not have been any tension,” Kalyan Banerjee said, clearly indicating the party’s national general secretary without naming him.
Incidentally, both Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Bakshi, had not made any effort to cool down Kalyan Banerjee, rather praising Banerjee and noting that he has been toiling a lot in Hooghly district.
According to political analyst and professor of political science, Rajib Ray, from the recent developments it is evident that Mamata Banerjee’s attempts to minimize the growing distance between “old guards,” and “new hands” are not working out as expected. BJP’s national vice president, Dilip Ghosh said that these are reflection of the inner power struggle within Trinamool Congress.
On this issue, renowned political analyst and former principal of the-then Presidency College, Dr. Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay said that although Kalyan Banerjee is firing away, he is not the only one in Trinamool Congress who has grievances against I-PAC. “They are indirectly making Abhishek Banerjee responsible in this entire episode since he was instrumental in arranging the tie-up between Trinamool Congress and I-PAC. If this continues, then surely Trinamool Congress is heading for a major internal disaster in the long run,” he said.
