Of late, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken steps to 'downsize' the all 'powerful' national general secretary of her party.
Some recent actions of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have raised many eyebrows. Is the chief minister downsizing her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and national general secretary of her party, Trinamool Congress (TMC)?
In a media byte, CM Banerjee's close confidant MP Kalyan Banerjee said that only Mamata Banerjee is running the party, the government, and no one should have any doubts about it. He further added, "Who will understand what the public wants more than Mamata Banerjee? The party's policies are decided by Mamata Banerjee, the state's policies are decided by Mamata Banerjee. One should do no such work, directly or indirectly, which does not have Mamata's signature."
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national IT head and West Bengal co-in-charge of the party Amit Malviya asked, "Is Mamata Banerjee cutting her ambitious nephew to size?"
Abhishek Banerjee, who is currently MP from Diamond Harbour constituency, was elevated as a party's national general secretary in June last year. He entered the parliament through the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and was elevated to the presidentship of the party's youth wing in June 2015. Many senior leaders of the party had revolted when Abhishek Banerjee was elevated in the party.
"Mamata Banerjee, wiser from Mulayam Singh ji's bitter experience, has moved in swiftly to downsize her ambitious nephew by fielding party MP Kalyan Banerjee to take him on and then using WB Health Dept to run down his claims," Malviya said.
After winning the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav elevated his son to the chief ministership. In January 2017, Akhilesh Yadav deposed his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, just before the assembly polls, from the party's presidentship. In a press conference, Mulayam Singh Yadav said, no one had elevated their children to the chief ministership, but he did, and still, Akhilesh humiliated him.
Posters and banners had recently come up in Abhishek Banerjee's constituency, from which photos of CM Mamata Banerjee are missing. Taking a dig at it, Malviya said, "There is an all-out war between Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek. Pictures of Mamata Banerjee, arguably the tallest leader in TMC, missing from posters in Diamond Harbour. No surprise Mamata fielded old-timers to take him on and used Health Dept to discredit his efforts…"
Acknowledging all was not well in the party, veteran TMC MP Sougata Roy said, "I will not discuss anything about an internal matter of the party with the media. Abhishek Banerjee is the appointed national general secretary of the party. We will solve the matter within the party."
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