Rejigging the Trinamool Congress (TMC) organisation leadership in districts across West Bengal in the run-up to the Panchayat polls, party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken over the charge of the crucial Birbhum district herself in the absence of party strongman Anubrata Mondal, who has now been in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s custody in connection with the cattle smuggling case.
Mondal will however continue as the Birbhum district president, it was decided at a meeting of the TMC leaders that Mamata held at her residence in Kolkata Friday.
The meeting saw Mamata reallotting the charge of several districts among her ministers and senior leaders.
“Our party chief will be looking after the party affairs in Birbhum district,” said senior TMC leader and MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Since his arrest by the CBI in the cattle smuggling case in August last year that dealt a blow to the party, Mamata has always stood by Mondal, one of her most trusted lieutenants in the state. Addressing various rallies, she had described Mondal as a “tiger”, saying that “when he returns from jail, TMC will give him a heroic welcome”.
In January, during a tour of Birbhum, a key TMC stronghold, Mamata held a meeting of the district party leaders and then reconstituted a core committee to look after its affairs in the district. Besides its existing members such as Siuri MLA Bikash Roychowdhury, Lovepur MLA Abhijit Singh alias Rana, Bolpur MLA Chandranath Singh and Rampurhat MLA Ashish Bandyopadhyay, the party chief included Bolpur Lok Sabha MP Asit Mal and two anti-Mondal leaders, Shatabdi Roy and Kajal Sheikh, in it.
TMC sources said Mamata had directed the core committee to work unitedly in Birbhum for the upcoming Panchayat elections.
Story continues below this ad
The actor-turned-politician, Shatabdi has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Birbhum thrice, even as her relationship with Mondal has been frayed for a long time.
A prominent minority face of Birbhum, Kajal Sheikh has always been a vocal opponent of Mondal. After his arrest, Kajal had posted an skeletal lion’s picture on social media, with a caption stating that “Looks, power, position and strength do not last forever. Unfortunately, many people forget this.” In the 2016 Assembly polls, Kajal was said to be so upset with the TMC candidate in Nanur, fielded at Mondal’s behest, that he allegedly helped the CPI(M)-Congress alliance candidate to defeat him.
According to TMC sources, apart from being a muscleman, Mondal has been a major fund-raiser for the party. So far, the CBI has found 16 rice mills and six petrol pumps in Mondal’s name. He allegedly ran 100 illegal sand mines and held shares in a medical college-cum-hospital in Birbhum. Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Bengal Assembly, has asked the Union health ministry to cancel the licence of this hospital.
A senior TMC leader said, “Our Didi (Mamata) has always been a fighter. She believes in fighting from the front and has always tried to boost the morale of the party rank and file in every crisis. That is why she filed her nomination from Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly election. She may have lost from Nandigram but galvanised the party by taking the battle to the home turf of the BJP’s face in the election, Suvendu Adhikari, which benefited us in many seats. In the case of Birbhum too, she knows nobody can take the place of Mondal. So she took up the responsibility of the key district herself.”
Story continues below this ad
Underlining that Birbhum is a crucial region for Mamata, politically and electorally, where Mondal’s arrest hurt the morale of the party rank and file, the TMC leader said, “Mondal is not just a close and trusted Mamata aide and Birbhum strongman, but also holds sway over neighbouring districts including Nadia, Murshidabad and West Burdwan. In these districts, our electoral machinery is dependent on him. We have to control this damage as soon as possible and come up with our leaders who could be effective alternative to Mondal. Otherwise, the party may face a tough time in the coming Panchayat polls as also the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”
The principal Opposition BJP criticised Mamata’s move to take charge of Birbhum, with LoP Adhikari saying sarcastically that “A condolence proposal was read for Anubrata Mandal at the Friday meeting. After that everyone observed a minute of silence.”
Mamata has appointed Aroop Biswas, who has been looking after the party affairs in East Bardhaman and Darjeeling districts, as in-charge of Nadia district. Senior minister Firhad Hakim will look after the party affairs in Howrah and Hooghly districts.
Law minister Moloy Ghatak will be the party in-charge of Bankura, Purulia and West Bardhaman, while Tapas Roy will look after South Dinajpur district.
Story continues below this ad
TMC sources said Mamata also asked ministers Siddiqullah Chowdhury and Sabina Yasmin to jointly handle the party affairs in North Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad districts.
