Its Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal in jail, TMC hesitates to rock the boat in district

The reshuffle, which involved months of planning and discussions in which TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee participated actively, finally took place only after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee gave her formal approval.

The responsibility of Birbhum was given to a nine-member core committee of the district leadership that will report directly to Mamata and senior leader Firhad Hakim. The newly appointed district chairman, Ashish Banerjee, will lead the core committee, which includes Birbhum MPs Asit Mal and Satabdi Roy, MLAs Chandra Nath Sinha, Bikash Roychoudhury and Abhijit Sinha, besides leaders Kajal Sheikh, Sudipto Ghosh and Biswabijoy Mandi.

TMC sources said that Kajal Sheikh, who is close to Abhishek Banerjee, is emerging as the tallest leader of the Birbhum unit.

“In Anubrata’s absence, organisational decisions will be taken by the district core committee. I am grateful to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for appointing me as the chairman of the committee. But I will not take any organisational decisions alone. All decisions will be taken jointly by the core committee,” said Ashish Banerjee after his appointment.

When the TMC stormed to power in West Bengal in 2011, Mondal had emerged as the party’s unquestionable leader in Birbhum district. Gradually, he was elevated to the top leadership of the TMC.

Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11, 2022, and named in its fourth chargesheet filed on October 7, 2022, in connection with cases of cattle smuggling. CBI officials have also alleged that Mondal has links to 168 land and property deals executed in or after 2014.

The TMC has not taken any disciplinary action against Mondal, unlike in the case of arrested minister Partha Chatterjee. Mondal was retained as the district president even after he was arrested. “Now, the party leadership has realised that the probability of his release is remote. So, it was forced to make an alternative arrangement,” said a senior TMC leader.

He also said that while Kajal Sheikh is emerging as Mondal’s replacement, the party “doesn’t want to create another Anubrata, which Kajal has the potential of becoming”. “To eliminate that probability, the party did not announce Kajal as district president.”

According to the leader, one apprehension of the TMC is that Kajal’s appointment could turn away the Hindus, who form a substantial chunk though the minorities are in majority in Birbhum.

BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said that the fact that the TMC had not replaced Mondal still, despite him being “a totally corrupt person”, shows they “can’t trust each other, and are fearful of a factional fight”.

The CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakraborty said, “The TMC is basically on the lookout for an obedient leader and thief like Anubrata Mondal, because the party is only concerned with the money that used to come from Birbhum.”