After several other places across the state, English Bazaar in Malda too started making speculations about Trinamul Congress leader and Minister Subhendu Adhikari’s possible switch to some other party after posters and banners on him, but without the party name or symbol flooded public places in the district.

The man behind these posters in Malda, Kajal Goswami, a TMC leader, however, claimed that though he had quit the party, Mr Adhikari had not and said he hung up his posters “out of love and respect for the minister, though he has been marked as a BJP agent by the TMC leadership in the district.”

The use of yellow and saffron colours on the poster has also started a fresh debate among the people about Mr Adhikari’s possible switch to the BJP. “Mr Adhikari is my guide and philosopher in political matters and he is only praised in an apolitical manner in the posters. One shouldn’t look for deeper meanings in this,” Mr Goswami said.

District Coordinator of the TMC Dulal Sarkar, on the other hand, said the posters could have been hung by some BJP agent and that they do not have nothing to say on this.

“We are soldiers of Didi and will act as she wishes,” Mr Sarkar said. On the other hand, a town workers’ meeting of the TMC in the Town Hall under the English Bazaar police station was hit by factional feud following the absence of two former ministers, Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury and Sabitri Mitra.

The leaders present there like Narendranath Tewary, Nihar Ranjan Ghosh, Dulal Sarkar, Sumala Agarwal and Chaitali Sarkar have decided to report the absence of the duo to the higher level of the party. According to them, the duo had been using the name of the party for their personal benefits and in doing so weakening the organisation.

According to party sources, the strategy of the party organisation in the booth level for the upcoming elections was discussed in the meeting and suggestions were sought to strengthen the party organization at the grassroots level.

“The meeting was held as per directions from Mamata Banerjee and the report of the absentees will be sent to Kolkata. Mr Tewary was chosen as the new president of the town organisation and this was his first meeting in this role,” Mr Sarkar said.

Mr Tewary, meanwhile, alleged that some leaders had been using the name of the party for their own interests, which he said must not be tolerated. “Some are absent today, and I don’t know why. Everything in this meeting has been reported to the CM,” he said.