Trinamul Congress chairperson and chief minister Mamata Banerjee may fix strict “conduct guidelines” for the maverick party MLAs at a crucial meeting on the state Assembly premises on 10 February, party sources said.
“The meeting at the West Bengal Assembly premises will be held on the same day, Governor C V Ananda Bose will deliver his opening address for the forthcoming Budget session. Recently, certain conduct and public statements made by some legislators had been a cause of embarrassment for the party, much to the dislike of the chief minister. So, in the crucial meeting with the party’s legislators, she might fix some conduct guidelines,” said a member of the West Bengal Cabinet, who did not wish to be named.
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He added that although the conduct guidelines will be in general applicable to all the legislators, it will be a note of caution from the chief minister for those who have turned out to be habitual offenders in posing embarrassments for the party through their actions or loaded public statements.
Recently, a comment by one such maverick legislator Madan Mitra, claiming that becoming a member of the party’s district committee against money is quite common, had posed immense embarrassment for the leadership.
Although Mitra had already written a letter to the party’s state president in West Bengal Subrata Bakshi, apologising for making such a public statement, the party leadership feels it is high time to caution such loose tongues to be careful in future.
Political observers feel that the meeting of the chief minister with the party’s legislators is especially crucial in the backdrop of the extended organisational meeting of Trinamul Congress scheduled either on 26 February or the day next, where the chief minister is expected to outline the initial blueprint for the party’s strategy for the crucial West Bengal Assembly polls in 2026.
Every year in the first quarter, such an organisational meeting of the party is held. But this time, the organisational meeting will have a special significance considering the crucial Assembly elections next year.
