Youthful Adivasi tea garden union leader and Abhishek faithful, Prakash Chik Baraik’s rise has been meteoric

A panchayat seat candidate in 2018, he is now TMC's face in Alipurduar taking on BJP rise in north Bengal and its new Rajya Sabha candidate

Prakash Chik Baraik. (Source: Facebook)

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For Prakash Chik Baraik (43), who fought his first election in 2018 — to a post in the Kumargram panchayat of Alipurduar district in north Bengal — the rise to a Rajya Sabha ticket from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been fast and steep. Known to be very close to the party’s second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee, the Adivasi leader has been carrying the TMC’s hopes of rejuvenation in Alipurduar and adjoining districts of north Bengal, which are BJP strongholds since at least the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

According to TMC sources, Baraik comes from a family of Congress supporters. His father, Krishna Chik Baraik, is a veteran Congress leader of Alipurduar district. He became a tea garden worker after graduation and rose to become a TMC union leader there.

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After Abhishek Banerjee encouraged him to enter the electoral arena in 2018, he was propelled into the seat of the Alipurduar district coordinator just before the 2021 Assembly elections, in a bold move by the TMC leadership to stem the organisational erosion of the party in north Bengal in the aftermath of the loss there in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Although the party lost all the seats in Alipurduar district in the 2021 Assembly polls, it made Baraik the Alipurduar district president.

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A senior TMC leader said, “Baraik is a courageous choice by the party leadership. The young, fresh, tea garden union leader is a good bet to fight the influence of BJP’s heavyweight leader in north Bengal’s tea belt, John Barla. Through Baraik, the party will also hope to cater to both tribal and north Bengal sentiments.”

He added, “Across the state, the TMC’s footprint among the Adivasis is dismal. No doubt this decision will help the party increase its acceptability among the tribal community.”

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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