Kolkata: Trinamool Congress is dispatching its senior minister Subrata Mukherjee to Nandigram for a recce after chief minister Mamata Banerjee on January 18 declared she would contest from this assembly constituency along with Bhowanipore.
The CM is also likely to meet the party’s Hindi cell members on Thursday and the senior leadership, including MPs and MLAs, on Friday. The party meetings come ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah’s January 30 visit to Bengal.
According to Trinamool sources, Mukherjee will go to Nandigram for a three-day tour on February 1. The party expects him to huddle wi-th workers and leaders and assess the impact of Suvendu Adhikari’s — and his followers’ — defection to BJP.
Mukherjee said: “Since the CM will contest in Nandigram, it is important that we assess the ground situation periodically. Since I have fought in several poll campaigns, the party perhaps entrusted the responsibility to me.”
A senior Trinamool leader said: “The party believes it needs to effectively counter the polarising campaign by BJP in Nandigram.”
Party MP Abhishek Banerjee is expected to address a public rally in Contai on February 6. The CM is expected to go to Nandigram twice next month for public meetings.
Mukherjee refused to read much into Suvendu’s “will win Nandigram by half lakh votes” claim. “There is no seat in Bengal which Mamata Banerjee cannot win,” he said.
Sources indicated the CM was likely to address all MPs and MLAs on Friday. Senior leaders, however, refused comment on this.
Trinamool on Tuesday sh-owcaused Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghosal for speaking out against party leaders. Ghosal, a journalist-turned-politician, has been at odds with the local leadership. He resigned as me-mber of Hooghly district committee and quit as party spokesperson, alleging he was not being allowed to carry on work in his constituency by a powerful section within Trinamool.
Ghosal made it clear he would continue to be a member of the assembly and did not have immediate plans to desert the party. He was asked to explain “why he discussed internal party affairs with the press” and was cautioned “not to do such things in future”, a source said.
The Trinamool leadership believes Friday’s meeting will put to rest all speculations on fence-sitters. The CM had earlier recommended Rajib Banerjee’s removal from the state cabinet. The party also expelled MLA Baishali Dalmiya.