Though the Trinamool Congress is yet to sever ties with I-PAC, the election management team hired by the party before the assembly polls but party insiders are of the opinion that the differences between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and poll strategist Prashant Kishor has reached to such an extent that the party’s cutting off I-PAC is just a matter of time.
After the debacle of the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Kishor was introduced to Mamata Banerjee by Abhishek Banerjee and I-PAC took over the responsibility of the party. Several senior leaders including Mamata Banerjee openly said that I-PAC is not part of party’s internal decision making, it is obvious that the election management group was working on behalf of one or two persons.
Party leaders say I-PAC’s introduction to the party not only gave it a professional shape but it has also worked wonders in bringing back the mass support into the fold. Campaigns like ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ (Tell Sister) or ‘Mamata Amader Ghorer Meye’ (Mamata is our neighbourhood girl) had not only helped in instilling faith of the voters but successfully carried the ‘outsider’ theory of Mamata Banerjee to counter national BJP leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah who came frequently during the election.
The problem started when some senior party leaders including Party Secretary General Partha Chatterjee and All-India vice President Subrata Bakshi started complaining about their interference into the party’s internal decisions. Some leaders even threatened to stop working unless I-PAC stopped interference into the party’ internal decisions and the government’s work as well.
The senior leadership complained to Mamata Banerjee that the I-PAC senior members were not ready to listen to the instruction of the party leadership and openly said that they only listen to Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee but to nobody else. “This is not only insulting but the party leadership was treated in such a way that we need to look for the approval of I-PAC before taking any political or administrative decisions. This is not acceptable. We can be loyal to the party and Mamata Banerjee but not to anyone else,” a senior party leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.
There were even complaints that I-PAC seniors in many cases were compromised and they gave preferences to the local leaders on the basis of ‘some other factors’ not on the basis of evaluation. “There are certain names suggested by the professional group who didn’t have any credentials or background to represent the party. This is not understandable why they were selected,” the leader said.
The rift between the group and the Chief Minister became obvious when TMC supremo gave a dry ‘Thank You’ in a reply to a request by I-PAC chief Prashant Kishor that he doesn’t want to work with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya making it clear that the Trinamool supremo was not further ready to compromise with I-PAC over the running of the party.
In a latest incident, candidates in two municipalities under Diamond Harbour Parliamentary constituency – Diamond Harbour Municipality and Budge Budge Municipality, filed nominations who were not approved by the two deputies appointed by the Trinamool Congress supremo making room for doubt over the Trinamool Congress chairperson’s control over the party.
Interestingly both the municipalities fall under Diamond Harbour Parliamentary constituency where Chief Minister’s nephew and presently the All-India General Secretary of the party, Abhishek Banerjee is the MP. Not only that, the coordinator for South 24 Parganas state Minister Arup Biswas nominated by the Chief Minister herself was suddenly replaced by two party henchmen – Kunal Ghosh and Soukat Mollah, considered to be close to Abhishek Banerjee.
The fiasco was a result of lists – one, which was approved by the Chief Minister, was physically released by TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee and national vice-president Subrata Bakshi, while the other was uploaded on the party’s Facebook page and Twitter handle. Though there was no official confirmation who was responsible for uploading the list, several party leaders believe that I-PAC was behind it.
Mamata Banerjee had said that if her instruction to follow the list which Chatterjee and Bakshi has prepared is not adhered to then strong action will be initiated. Now it is interesting to see how the Trinamool chief reacts in this situation when her closest associate is working against her.