The tension boiling within the Trinamul Congress once again jumped to the fore as party MLA, cabinet minister and KMC mayor Firhad Hakim today openly condemned the demands for ‘One Person One Post’, on Facebook, posted by cousins of TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee and a coterie of his supporters. Hakim deemed such posts as “unacceptable” to the party and its chairperson, Mamata Banerjee.
Addressing a Press conference, Mr Hakim began his tirade against such “antiparty” activities by declaring he has full consent of the Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee to make such statements. He chose to highlight that only Miss Banerjee can take final decisions and is the only person who can alter any rules framed by the party.
Mr Hakim’s declaration comes in the wake of Facebook posts by cousins of Abhishek Banerjee, who posted “I support One Person One post in AITC”. Some of them are Akash Banerjee, Agnisha Banerjee, Aditi Gayen and Sarthak Banerjee. Similarly, the same was also posted by TMC members who are considered closer to Abhishek, such as Debangshu Bhattacharya, Sudip Raha and Trinankur Bhattacharya etc.
Mr Hakim clarified that the decisions and announcements by Miss Banerjee are being wrongly portrayed. “Our party chairperson has been reelected and she is yet to form a committee. The call for ‘One person One post’ is inappropriate till our chairperson conveys her decision. Words are being falsely alluded to Mamata Banerjee who is the only person to take a call regarding who will hold what or how many posts. These demands on Facebook are not supported by the party.”
He added that old clippings of Miss Banerjee are being falsely used to convey a decision that is yet to be taken by the chairperson. He said this campaign on social media is misguiding people and in total violation of party discipline. “Party will ask for such posts to be pulled down.”
He also criticised the demands of Debangshu who has advocated for the use of central forces in the civic polls “to avoid a situation like the 2018 Panchayat election for which TMC suffered in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.”
Mamata Banerjee had called for the implementation of the ‘One person One post’ during the 2021 Bengal assembly elections. However, the decision soon fizzled out apparently as one person did get to manage more than one portfolio. Mr Hakim is the state’s transport minister and was re-elected as the KMC mayor. Similarly, senior leaders like Partha Chatterjee or Subrata Bakshi and several others, hold more than one post.
Abhishek Banerjee recently reiterated his objection to one person holding a robust portfolio while also saying that retirement age should be in place where a politician must hang the boots once they reach 65 or 70. His statements caused a stir since Mamata Banerjee, who is above 65, then qualifies for retirement.