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Journalism of Courage
Driving down the longest flyover in West Bengal, a 7.5-km stretch in South 24 Parganas district, it is hard to miss Abhishek Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress MP towers in billboards on either side, welcoming people to ‘Sebaashray Health Camps’ in his constituency Diamond Harbour.
The TMC national general secretary claims that between January 2 and March 20, the first phase of the initiative, more than 12 lakh people availed of free services at the Sebaashray camps, with expenses of those referred to private hospitals also taken care of.
The health camps were just the latest, and most visible, aspect of Abhishek’s much-touted ‘Diamond Harbour Model’ – the others being pension camps, fast-tracking of government services and mega projects, and outreach measures like ‘Ek Daak E Abhishek (Abhishek a call away)’ – ensuring that the constituency stands apart from the other 41 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
For the Opposition, this flows from the privilege of being the No. 2 in the ruling party, and the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. And proof that the overall system is lagging.
Under the 75-day Sebaashray first phase, around 40-50 health camps were held for around 10 days in each of the seven Assembly segments falling under Diamond Harbour. For every 42 health camps (or roughly an Assembly segment each), there was a ‘model camp’.
TMC leaders said Abhishek personally monitored the scheme, with his – and the party’s – social media feed full of details and visuals from the camps every day.
Abhishek’s MPLADS funds took care of most of the expenses, with the MLAs (all seven under Diamond Harbour belong to the TMC) and councillors pitching in. Lok Sabha data shows 100% utilisation of his MPLADS funds by Abhishek– with Rs 13.46 crore spent on infrastructure and allied areas, Rs 1.28 crore on health and Rs 0.42 crore on education.
There was no dearth of support, says Abdul Khaleque Molla, the MLA from Metiabruz. The overall Medical Coordinator of the programme, Dr Akhbar Hossain, says around 1,200 government doctors were “volunteers” – this has also raised eyebrows – with 12 hospitals brought on board for referral cases.
Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, a TMC local booth president and the in-charge of a camp in Budge Budge town, in the Assembly segment by the same name, told The Indian Express that the idea was to “augment government health care”. “The primary health centres (PHCs) lack infrastructure. And if one goes to a big government hospital (there are two in the vicinity), tests can take months. We did the basic tests here, and for those such as MRI, we took patients to model camps.”
One of the doctors who volunteered at the Budge Budge camp was Indranil Bagchi, an MD posted at Barasat Government Hospital, nearly 55 km away. He was at the camp on his weekly offs, Bagchi says, with the TMC organising their pick-up and drop.
Manbur Ali, a doctor with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, says he took leave to work at the camp.
At model camps like the one at Budge Budge, crowds waited in air-conditioned halls with well-equipped doctors’ chambers and chemist shops, where medicines were free. Sebaashray coordinator Dr Hossain, who volunteered at the Budge Budge model camp, says each such camp had around 30-40 doctors, most of them post-graduate trainees.
About 3 km from the model camp is located the Banjanheria-Charial block PHC. Unlike most PHCs, it is well equipped, with an operation theatre, doctors’ chambers and a medicine shop. However, while the Sebaashray health camps were functional, it got barely four-five patients.
Sudha Singh, who is diabetic, says she was disappointed that she could get just a week’s supply of medicines at the Budge Budge camp. However, she is not complaining. “At least the TMC leader is trying to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Kamrun Nissa Bibi, who went to the Rabindra Nagar health camp in Metiabruz with her mother-in-law, praises the TMC MP for being “focused on people’s real needs”.
Abu Md Tariq, a TMC councillor, likened Sebaashray to “duare hospital (hospital at your doorstep)”, drawing a parallel to a similarly named scheme of the Mamata government.
The other examples illustrating Diamond Harbour’s “special place”, as per the Opposition, are projects such as Charial Bridge and the aforementioned 7.5-km ‘Sampriti’ flyover. Both of these were finished at a pace unusual for government projects of this scale.
Talking of Abhiskeh’s “development push”, a senior TMC leader says: “In 2019, he promised that the Charial Bridge would be ready within five years. During Covid, work came to a halt, but after the pandemic eased, Abhishek promised the project would be finished before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It was inaugurated in February 2024.”
Similarly, the TMC leader says, the MP pushed for renovation of the road under the Sampriti flyover before the Lok Sabha elections. “On Abhishek Banerjee’s appeal, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority built a water-treatment plant. The state government is also planning an apparel hub at Nungi in Budge Budge, with an outlay of Rs 32,000 crore, to boost the garment industry.”
MLA Molla gives the example of a road in his own constituency Metiabruz which, he said, remained unrepaired despite him raising the issue “three-four times in the Assembly”. “A year ago, it was brought to the attention of Abhishek Banerjee. The roadwork is now nearly complete.”
A TMC worker says, “in many cases, our MP just calls up the minister to get work done”, citing the Falta–Mathurapur Water Project, and the development of a bus terminal and auditorium in Amtala.
Even the rising profile of the Diamond Harbour Football Club, founded by him, is seen as flowing from Abhishek’s patronage.
The only non-TMC MLA in the South 24 Paraganas district in which Diamond Harbour falls is Nawsad Siddique, the Indian Secular Front leader who represents Bhangar.
He gives an example of the delays that can happen in constituencies that are not Diamond Harbour. “Under the Bidhayak Elaka Unnayan Prakalpa scheme, as part of which MLAs can recommend development programmes in their constituencies, we deal with different government agencies. In case of Opposition MLAs, these projects can be delayed by two-three years… often under the guise of rules and norms. For ruling party members, in comparison, work commences even before formal applications are submitted,” says Siddique.
After Sebaashray, one of Abhishek’s most popular initiatives in his constituency has been assistance with old age pension. As part of this, in January 2024, nearly 70,000 senior citizens who were not enrolled for the government’s pension scheme were identified for a payout of Rs 1,000 per month, while the TMC organised camps to mobilise registrations.
Gita Deb, 74, a resident in the Budge Budge town area, has been a beneficiary, as have Sushil Kumar Basu (81) and his wife Kalyani (71). Basu praises the TMC’s “year-round connect” with the people. “They helped us with our pension, and now they are taking us to health camps.”
It was during Covid that Diamond Harbour was first projected as a model for the state. Abhishek claimed to have ensured 100% vaccination in the constituency apart from proactive diagnosis and treatment. The positivity rate in the constituency fell from 10% to 2%, the lowest in Bengal.
The same criticism that was levelled then about the “VIP treatment” for Abhishek’s seat is made by the Opposition now.
Pratikur Rahman of the CPI(M), who lost to Abhishek in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, says: “The Sebaashray initiative demonstrates that the government health system has completely failed. Almost all the PHCs in Diamond Harbour are closed… If a resident falls ill at midnight, where will they go?”
Abhijit Das (Bobby) of the BJP, who also lost to Abhishek in 2024, asks where the money for the TMC MP’s pet projects in Diamond Harbour is coming from. “Who are the doctors? Do they all have legitimate degrees?”
The roping in of government doctors as “volunteers” for the camps has also been questioned. Manas Gumta, who heads the Joint Platform of Doctors, says: “No government servant, including a doctor, can attend a programme of a political party even if it is a health camp.”
Congress leader Soumya Aich Roy says, “There is a normal health system of a state. A people’s representative should try to improve that.”
Abhishek and his office did not respond to calls or messages regarding the story.
There have been voices of criticism from within the TMC as well to Abhishek’s distinctive place in the TMC government. In 2022, when the first mentions of ‘Diamond Harbour Model’ came up during Covid, senior TMC leader and Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee said he did not consider Abhishek, then 34, his leader. “There is only one model, and that is Mamata Banerjee’s,” he said.
Now, as the countdown to the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections begins, Abhishek’s Diamond Harbour push is being seen as a bid by him to project himself as “different”, in a state lagging in development.
At a party meeting last month, Abhishek tried to put this to rest. “News is being circulated that Abhishek Banerjee will go to the BJP or float a new party. Even with a severed head, I will say Mamata Banerjee zindabad.”
