A fresh bout of factionalism has rocked the Trinamul Congress in Cooch Behar after a section of senior party leaders launched a new outreach programme without consulting the district leadership. The move has deepened internal rifts, once again exposing the simmering divide within the party.
Former north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh and ex-MP Partha Sarathi Roy, both influential figures in the district and former TMC presidents, visited the Poaturkutir enclave—a territory incorporated into India a decade ago through the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh. The visit, reportedly conducted without informing district TMC president Abhijit De Bhowmik, MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, or north Bengal development minister Udayan Guha, has drawn sharp reactions from the rival camp.
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Both Ghosh and Roy currently hold key posts—Ghosh as chairman of Cooch Behar Municipality and Roy as chairman of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation. Their initiative, dubbed ‘Kamon Aachhe Sabek Chhitmahalbasi’ (How are the former enclave dwellers), aims to assess the status of people who became Indian citizens following the LBA implementation.
“We have received numerous complaints that many former enclave residents are still being denied state welfare schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar, old-age pensions, and farmers’ assistance,” Ghosh told reporters. “We will find out the reasons behind such deprivation and raise the matter with the chief minister and the district magistrate.”
The visit to the area—Dinhata, a stronghold of minister Udayan Guha—was seen as a direct affront to his authority, particularly as the outreach included a stop at the home of Mansur Ali, an ailing elder who played a key role in the enclave movement.
TMC leaders aligned with Guha expressed open displeasure over the visit, accusing Ghosh’s faction of bypassing party protocol and stirring up tension. The district has, in recent months, seen the TMC leadership split into two camps, with MP Jagadish Basunia publicly criticising Ghosh and his associates on more than one occasion.
With the introduction of an independent programme in politically sensitive areas, the internal feud now threatens to spill further into the public domain, raising questions about the party’s unity in a strategically important border district.
