Pranab plays arbitrator in WB PCC infighting

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pranab Mukherjee today tried to bring about a rapprochement between the two warring faction...

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pranab Mukherjee today tried to bring about a rapprochement between the two warring factions of the state Congress — one led by party MP from Berhampore and Murshidabad District Congress Committee president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and the other by former state minister and now leader of the Congress Legislature Party Atish Sinha.

The factional feud in PCC came out in the open before PM Manmohan Singh’s visit here on Tuesday when Chowdhury, at a meeting, came down heavily on former PCC president Somen Mitra accusing him of ‘‘stabbing Congress in the back’’ In fact, the entire state Congress has been virtually divided with Sinha backing the Mitra faction and Union Minister for Water Resources Priya Ranjan Das Munshi backing the Choudhury faction.

Even Mukherjee has expressed his soft corner for the Berhampore Congress strongman saying Choudhury “was an asset of the party”. Mukherjee had been elected to Lok Sabha in the last elections — for the first time ever — from Jangipur constituency of Murshidabad district, courtesy an aggressive campaigning and popularity of Choudhury.

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‘‘I have told Pranabda what they are doing there. They are trying to wreck Congress from within. If they are not expelled from the party, the party’s future is doomed. But I want to make one thing very clear, I am not afraid of any confrontation,’’ Choudhury said.

He said a section of Congress leaders with the tacit help of CPI(M) were out to weaken his base in the district. The recent no-confidence motion put up by some party councillors against the chairman of the party-controlled Berhampore municipality, was a pointer to such ‘‘conspiracy’’, he added. According to sources, the Congress councillors of Berhampore Municipality owing allegiance to Sinha had recently brought a no-confidence motion against chairman Nilmoni Adya, Choudhury’s mentor. Adya survived the motion by 12-10 votes. — With PTI

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