Away from the glare of the media, unlike her charismatic aunt and CM Mamata, she has brought about significant change
On June 2, just a month after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) registered its strongest electoral victory in the 2021 assembly elections, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee visited a private hospital in Kolkata to inquire about the health of an elderly woman. Visited.
BJP leader Mukul Roy’s wife Krishna Roy was suffering from COVID-19 and Mr. Banerjee’s visit had caused a stir in political circles in the state – not only because Mr. Roy was a BJP MLA, but also because no one from the state BJP leadership had not arrived. Him. A few days later Mr. Roy, the national vice president of the BJP, returned to the Trinamool Congress, a party he had helped establish in 1998.
And Mr. Roy wasn’t the only high-profile entrant into the TMC, thanks to Mr. Banerjee’s quiet accessibility. He was instrumental in bringing in Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev and nominating her to the Rajya Sabha within weeks. Making way for Ms. Dev, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Arpita Ghosh addressed her resignation to Mr. Banerjee and sought an opportunity to work for the party.
Recently, former Union minister and two-time BJP MP Babul Supriyo also spoke of being given an opportunity to appear in the “Playing 11” at the behest of the 33-year-old Diamond Harbor MP.
new faces
TMC President Mamata Banerjee’s nephew is slowly and steadily recruiting new talent in search of new areas to restructure and expand the organisation. After 2019, as his clout in the party grew, he tried to transform a party by bringing in election strategist Prashant Kishor and improving both its image and messaging on social media platforms.
Mr. Banerjee was also instrumental in initiating several organizational changes within the party, naming Sayoni Ghosh as the youth president and appointing former Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Ritabrata Banerjee as the head of the TMC’s labor wing. Huh. A few weeks ago, the party came out with a one-man-one-post policy, which resulted in many ministers giving up organizational posts and a new leadership emerging at the district level.
The involvement of fresh blood in TMC is also evident from the party’s campaign in Tripura. The first to visit the state was a youth leader, followed by a minister in the West Bengal government, and finally Mr. Banerjee himself visited the state, emphasizing that his party would contest the assembly elections in Tripura with all seriousness.
In turn, Mr. Banerjee has come under the scanner of central investigative agencies, who are facing CBI summons in the coal theft scam. The MP has repeatedly said that the TMC will not bow down to the summons and notices of the investigating agencies.
away from the spotlight
While he has been the subject of much debate and speculation in political circles, Mr Banerjee has stayed away from the limelight. The young Trinamool leader works from his Camac Street office in the heart of Kolkata and not from the party headquarters on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. He stays away from public glare, unlike his aunt, who is comfortable with a media presence.
Even after the 2021 assembly elections when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has put herself as a challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Banerjee has tightened her grip on the party, steadily expanding her sphere of influence and becoming the second most important leader of the party. has made its place. TMC leaders
However, political observers believe that it is not fair to compare the leadership skills of the two.
“Mamata Banerjee is a self-made leader who started from scratch. She rose from student and local politics and made her mark in national politics. Abhishek is part of a dynasty, and his leadership is largely dependent on the support of his party and administration’s well-oiled political machinery,” said Biswanath Chakraborty, professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University.
Prof Chakraborty said that all the electoral success of Trinamool Congress so far can be attributed to Mamata Banerjee’s charisma and if Trinamool Congress is not able to move ahead from West Bengal then there is no point in some defections from BJP or Congress.
“The real test for Abhishek will be to make the Trinamool Congress a national player; The assembly elections to be held in Tripura in 2022 could be the first challenge for him.