Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi’s appointment as President of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) promises to bring about inter and intra party changes in the political scenario of the Left Front-ruled state. The state Congress machinery has been virtually defunct as the president’s post had been lying vacant after Pranab Mukherjee’s resignation following the party’s poor show in the Assembly elections in May 2006. Dasmunsi was being touted as the next WBPCC president for a long time. And with the final confirmation on Dasmunsi’s nomination on Wednesday, the political equations within the WBPCC are likely to change. While state Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee is very happy with his appointment, Somen Mitra has expressed displeasure to his followers. “I had quit visiting the WBPCC office, but would resume doing so from tomorrow itself,” said Mukherjee, who has not visited the state party office for the past three years. However, despite differences in the state party unit, no top-ranking leader is openly criticising the move. Pradeep Bhattacharya, who was the working President of the WBPCC till now said: “I welcome Dasmunsi’s appointment.” Moreover, the buzz in the political circle is that taking into account Dasmunsi’s proximity to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, relations between the two parties might improve. Not only had Dasmunsi openly supported Mamata’s stance on the Nandigram issue, TMC leader Sougata Roy’s victory in the assembly by-election at Bongaon has also been credited to the Congress leader’s efforts. Sources in the state Congress said that ever since the CPI(M)-backed UPA formed the Government at the Centre in 2004, the Congress had become politically dormant in the Bengal. A section of the party workers are now looking up to Dasmunsi for the party’s crusade in taking on the ruling Left Front in the state more actively. “Appointing Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi as the party chief in Bengal just before the panchayat elections is a very prudent decision,” said Abdul Mannan, who had been sidelined within the WBPCC for the past three years. Meanwhile, the recent development might compound the problems of the CPI(M) in the state, as none of the contemporary party leaders share a good rapport with Dasmunsi. The only CPI(M) leader to have shared a good relationship with the Union Minister in recent times was their departed state secretary Anil Biswas. “We are going to monitor Dasmunsi’s strategy in the state, and act accordingly,” said a senior CPI(M) leader.
