Kolkata (West Bengal): Suvendu Adhikari has now become the "poster- boy" for the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. This is primarily because of the scathing attacks he has been launching against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Avishek Banerjee at every rally of the saffron camp.
Further, even Rajib Banerjee also has come out of his soft mode after switching over to the BJP. Though not as scathing as Adhikari, Banerjee has also been targeting the aunt and nephew duo.
The same was evident at BJP's rally at Baruipur on Thursday, where Adhikari described the nephew as the "Queen Bee". "I am just the worker bee," Adhikari said. From the entire approach, it is evident that Adhikari's grievance is against Abhishek rather than the chief minister.
History speaks. July 21, 2011 was the day for Trinamool Congress to showcase its glorious victory, as it ousted the 34-year-long Left Front rule. However, on that special occasion, though Abhishek got a place on the dais, Adhikari was denied.
Political analysts are of the opinion that Adhikari's grievance had its roots at that particular moment. With time, Abhishek's influence too increased within the party. Some analysts also feel that in the attempt to highlight Abhishek's importance, an able party-administrator like Adhikari was neglected.
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Several Trinamool leaders also disapproved of the idea of roping in Prashant Kishore as the poll strategist. PK's interference is organisation activities further aggravated their grievances. Some expressed their grievance publicly.
In fact, PK's entry aggravated Adhikari's grievances against the supreme leader of the party.
Trinamool Congress leaders, however, have a different argument. They claim that the leaders are joining the saffron camp to protect their unaccounted money. On Thursday senior Trinamool leader, Firhad Hakim said that Sovan Chatterjee is unable to operate freely after joining the BJP. "He is facing a lot of pressure," Hakim said.
According to the leader of the Left Parties in West Bengal assembly, the pressure is the threat of raids by central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
"Such leaders have to keep the BJP happy and hence they are resorting to such attacks. The chief minister and her nephew will surely land up behind bars. Trinamool leaders who have joined BJP are now resorting to such attacks against the chief minister and her nephew to escape imprisonment. It is also true that Mamata Banerjee has totally got isolated from the public. She has even got isolated from her own cabinet colleagues. So Trinamool leaders have started expressing their grievances," Chakrabarty said.
