How TMC is trying to keep internal strife in check before the battle for Bengal next year

The party has sent the most clear message in Birbhum, a bastion where it has removed strongman Anubrata Mondal, a close aide of the CM, as district president. The TMC instead constituted a core committee headed by senior MLA Ashis Banerjee. The panel also has senior leaders Abhijit Sinha, Chandranath Sinha, Bikash Roychoudhury, Sudipto Ghosh, and Kajal Sheikh, Mondal’s biggest rival in the district and someone who is believed to be close to the party’s de facto number two, Abhishek Banerjee. TMC MPs from Birbhum, Satabdi Roy and Asit Kumar Mal, have been appointed as invitees to the panel.

The CBI arrested Mondal in a case of alleged cattle smuggling in August 2022 and got out of prison only last September. Since then, he has been keeping a low profile. While sources said the control in Birbhum now lies with no particular individual, insiders said the TMC chief did a “balancing act” on Sunday when the panel members met. “Mamata called Mondal during the Birbhum core committee meeting and assured him of his continued importance in the party,” said a source.

Another organisational district that saw a revamp was North Kolkata, where district president Sudip Bandopadhyay, the party’s Lok Sabha leader, was redesignated as the chairperson of the district core committee. The party has included senior leaders such as Shashi Panja, Nayna Bandopadhyay, Atin Ghosh, Paresh Pal, Supti Pandey, Swarnakamal Saha, Swapan Samaddar, Jiban Saha, and Vivek Gupta. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh who does not get along well with Bandopadhyay did not find a place in the committee.

“Sudip Bandopadhyay was removed earlier too and replaced with Tapas Roy. After Roy joined the BJP, he was reinstated. Bandopadhyay is close to Mamata. In Birbhum, both Mondal and Sheikh, who are seen to be close to Mamata and Abhishek respectively, found a place in the panel,” said a senior TMC leader.

As a part of its exercise, the TMC brought in changes in 18 of the 35 organisational districts, though the names of some district presidents and chairpersons are yet to be announced. Among the other big names who have been dropped as district presidents are MP Arup Chakraborty who is no longer the party’s Bankura district president and Papiya Ghosh has been replaced as Darjeeling (plain) district unit chief.

According to TMC insiders, this spate of changes reflects the party’s resolve to avoid the situation it found itself in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly polls. Though the party ended up coasting to victory, the defections of some big names had raised concerns at the time. Among those who quit the party at the time were current Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP in December 2020, and a few sitting MLAs, ministers and TMC leaders, including Sonali Guha, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, Jatu Lahiri, and Dipendu Biswas, who followed suit in March 2021, weeks before the polls.

Pointing out that Mamata Banerjee herself had announced the reorganisation push at a party event in February, Abhishek on Monday said, “Those who have worked sincerely for the party and taken the government schemes to people’s doorsteps have been rewarded. We have also acknowledged the hard work of those who did not get the desired results… Everyone will work as a team. It is not correct to look at the restructuring in terms of whose power has been taken away and whose has increased.”

The TMC general secretary said a similar exercise would be taken up in blocks and towns after extensive deliberations.