In a major reshuffle of party leadership, the All India Trinamool Congress on Saturday appointed Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee as the party’s national general secretary, but said that no decision has been taken on the fate of turncoats who had joined the BJP ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls and have expressed desire to return to the party.
The TMC despite facing an exodus of party leaders to the saffron camp had swept the recently concluded state Assembly polls.
The party also announced its policy of 'one leader one post', following which Abhishek resigned as the president of the party's youth wing All India Trinamool Youth Congress, a post he has held since 2011.
Party supremo Mamata Banerjee announced his appointment as the new TMC national general secretary at a virtual organisation meet currently underway.
"Our party chief Mamata Banerjee has nominated MPAbhishek Banerjee as the all India general secretary of the TMC," TMC leader Partha Chatterjee said, following two crucial meetings earlier in the day.
Abhishek, the nephew of the party supremo Mamata Banerjee is an MP from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. He will be replacing Subrata Bakshi as the national general secretary.
Sayoni Ghosh to head TMC's youth wing
According to a News18 report, Banerjee has now appointed actor-turned-politician Sayoni Ghosh as the new TMC Youth president.
According to the report, though Sayoni lost her Asansol South seat in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly Polls, she managed to gain immense popularity among the TMC young workers.
Some of the other prominent appointments made today include Kunal Ghosh who has been made the state general secretary, Dola Sen who has been appointed as the president of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), and Ritabrata Banerjee is now the state INTTUC general secretary.
The party also announced the appointment of Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as the all India women's president of the TMC while filmmaker Raj Chakraborty (who won from Barrackpore constituency) has been made the president of the party's State Cultural Affairs.
No decision on 'ghar wapsi' of turncoats
Ahead of the TMC organisational meet, it was reported that the party leadership may take a call on the ghar wapsi (return) of former TMCleaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.
Banerjee was expected to take a final call on allowing those TMC men and women who had crossed over to the saffron party, but now wished to return to the party. However, no such decision was taken in today's meetings.
According to PTI, Chatterjee stated that no discussion was held on turncoats, who had quit the TMC to join the BJP ahead of the assembly polls, and were now willing to return to the party fold.
Several former TMC MLAs including Dipendu Biswas and Sonali Guha have in recent past sent letters regretting their decision to join the BJP, and sought to return back to the party's fold.
Guha, who at one time was considered close to Banerjee, made an impassioned plea on camera seeking the chief minister's forgiveness. "The way fish can not stay out of the water, I will not be able to live without you, Didi," Guha, a four-time legislator from Satgachia in South24 Parganas, has written in a letter to Banerjee.
There was also speculation over a possible homecoming of Mukul Roy, who had crossed over to BJP, after Abhishek visited his wife at a city hospital and spoke to Roy' son, who had also joined BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also taken the trouble of ringing up to enquire about Roy's wife's health.
The chief minister during her election campaign had branded other turncoat TMC members as Mir Jafars after the infamous Bengal general who betrayed Siraj-ud-Dowlah in the battle of Plassey against Lord Robert Clive's army.
With inputs from PTI
June 05, 2021 at 05:49PM
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