Farmers Movement Archive

Abhishek’s online meet with MLAs today on farm bill stir

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress second-in-command and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee has convened a virtual meeting of party MLAs on Sunday to set the tone for and tenor of “anti-farmer” bill protests ahead of the 2021 assembly polls. All eyes are on Abhishek’s first such meeting, especially when some have reservations in accepting him as the leader after Mamata Banerjee. In addition, a senior minister from Kolkata has also sounded a discordant note against Kolkata Municipal Corporation administrator Firhad Hakim. The MP had held a similar meeting, albeit with Trinamool Youth Congress members, in June and on a day Union home minister Amit Shah held his first virtual Bengal rally. According to TMC insiders, a follow-up meeting is likely after Kali Puja. The online deliberation comes at a time the TMC has announced new committees in many districts, and replaced district and block presidents in some. There is apprehension that some MLAs are “at unease” over working with the new dispensation. Some of them even fear they may be denied tickets in the coming elections. In contrast, many MLAs are also hoping to gauge the mood of party bosses at Sunday’s meeting. More so as the MLAs are under watch of Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC team and reports on internal feuds are reaching the Trinamool chief through her own network. The assembly seats in Jangalmahal — West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia — are very much in focus as Mamata wants to win back people who went with the BJP in 2019. The party has tried the same with PCPA-turned-Trinamool leader Chhatradhar Mahato, who has come under the NIA scanner. Abhishek is likely to take stock of ongoing projects in the area and give MLAs more tasks for the road ahead. However, things are looking up in West Midnapore, where many BJP workers joined Trinamool, the latest defections taking place in Kharagpur on Saturday. The joining of Tushar Bhattacharya in Bankura is yet another positive development for TMC. The MP may also want inputs from party bastions of Arambagh, Khanakul and Goghat in Hooghly, where the BJP has made inroads. The Haldia Town Trinamool Youth Congress on Saturday lodged a police complaint against “unknown persons” for taking off Mamata and Abhishek banners at Kadamtala, and those in front of the municipality.

The Times of India

2020-09-27

Kolkata