Kolkata (West Bengal): The emphatic win of the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has already bolstered the party's morale and both party supremo Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee have not kept secret their ambitions about expanding the Trinamool's base outside the state.
In its expansion bid in the run-up to the 2024 general elections, Trinamool Congress has already laid enough stress on Tripura and has increased their presence in the state. Party leaders, including Abhishek, are frequenting the BJP-ruled state, which is backed up by regular activities of the party's students' and youth wings. After Tripura, the Trinamool brass is now planning to spread wings in another neighbouring BJP-ruled state, Assam. Their trump card in that state is Sushmita Dev, who has recently switched sides from the Congress.
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Party sources have told ETV Bharat that the Trinamool Congress leadership wants to use Sushmita as its face and will soon be initiating a membership drive in Assam.
"We are planning a series of events either from the end of this month or early September. Soon after Sushmita Dev left the Congress and joined us, around 34 local Congress leaders have quit that party. We are mostly focusing on the Barak valley and among the Bengali speaking population in Assam. There are talks that many former Congress leaders could become part of the Trinamool Congress during the organisational meet slated for Assam next month," said a senior TMC leader.
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Political watchers are closely monitoring the developments in Assam and the fallout in the Assam Congress. Also, the break in the Congress ranks in Assam will have its bearing on the relationship between Mamata Banerjee and Sonia Gandhi ahead of the next general elections. But, for the moment, the Trinamool Congress leadership is upbeat about their prospects in Assam and have also said that poll strategist Prashant Kishore's organisation was already working in that state to create the groundwork for the Trinamool Congress.
