Mamata, nephew shift focus to LS polls: Trinamul rank and file heave a sigh of relief
Telegraph | 11 February 2024
The Mamata Banerjee-Abhishek Banerjee duo have, according to sources, decided to look past internal differences, at least for now, and agreed to waste no more time in diving headlong into the campaign and organisational preparations for the general elections.
The aunt-nephew duo’s purported truce — however transient it is — earlier this week allowed the Trinamul Congress to finally free its arms and charge into the poll battleground under their joint leadership once again after it produced stellar results in 2021.
“They have buried the proverbial hatchet, at least for now. It happened on account of their (Tuesday) meeting. This was inevitable, but we were losing sleep over how much time it took. But, as the adage goes, better late than never,” said a Trinamul insider.
Trinamul’s rank and file had been anxious over the damage being caused by the limbo their campaign launch was ensnared in because of a perceived succession struggle that was reflected in the old-versus-new debate.
On Wednesday, Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek decided to hold a major, general election-related organisational meeting with the leadership down to the block level on February 16. His decision is deemed significant as it is his first statewide organisational activity since October last year and came in the wake of a long overdue face-to-face on Tuesday with the chief minister.
“They never disagreed on the dire need to close ranks on the saffron juggernaut which is likely to pull out all the stops to win a large number of seats in Bengal,” said the insider.
Abhishek, rarely seen in political activities unrelated to his Lok Sabha constituency of Diamond Harbour since Durga Puja last year, will virtually meet all of his party’s MPs, MLAs, and block presidents from 3pm on February 16.
His office, in consultation with an external agency, has all but finalised plans for a mega campaign with the core theme of Bengal becoming increasingly self-reliant under Mamata’s single-engine government.
It is an obvious jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concepts of double-engine governments (BJP-led governments in the state and at the Centre as a “necessary” development accelerator) and Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India, an umbrella concept for the Centre’s plans to make the nation more efficient, competitive and resilient).
“It (the mega campaign) is yet to be approved by her (Mamata) and would be launched only if she does. But she already has an overall idea of the broad contours and is expected to like it,” said a Trinamul source.
“It is, in the key aspects, not dissimilar to the (poll consultant) Prashant Kishor-conceived ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay (Bengal wants only its daughter)’ campaign for the (2021) Assembly elections,” he added. “Abhishek gave somewhat of a teaser in his reaction to the (state) budget last evening.”
In a brief statement on X on Thursday, the Diamond Harbour MP hailed the Bengal budget.
“By strengthening the hands of our mothers, sisters & poor, we’re forging our way towards Swanirbhor Bangla (self-reliant Bengal),” he had written in the post.