‘By appointing Hakim at such a vital post, CM Mamata Banerjee has given a message that the party will not run as per Abhishek’s wishes’.
New Delhi: A slew of decisions announced on Friday by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who was playing a game of political chess for the last few months with the intention to position himself as the heir apparent of TMC, has lost this round.
While Abhishek Banerjee was reinstated as the party’s national general secretary, almost one week after he was relieved of the same when Mamata Banerjee abolished all the party’s posts barring her own, the appointment of her cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim as the bridge between the party’s national working committee and Mamata Banerjee, has elevated Hakim’s position as the number two in the party along with Mamata Banerjee’s eyes and ears, a position that was enjoyed by Abhishek Banerjee till very recently.
Giving a new position to Hakim is also against what Abhishek Banerjee was vigorously pushing for—“one man-one post”—in the party. Hakim, a transport minister, is also the mayor of Kolkata apart from this new organizational post—therefore, now embodies “one man-three post”.
“Mamata Banerjee has shown Abhishek Banerjee his place in the party’s hierarchy. By appointing Hakim at such a vital post, she has given a message that the party will not run as per Abhishek’s wishes. Now, he will have to go to Mamata Banerjee through Hakim, just like other leaders. The message is clear—Abhishek Banerjee is no more the number two in the party,” said a Trinamool Congress spokesperson.
This development, party sources said, will have a direct impact on the clout that was enjoyed by certain individuals in India-Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in West Bengal and in other states where they are assisting the TMC.
I-PAC had started working for the TMC after Abhishek arranged a meeting between them and Mamata. However, the autonomy enjoyed by I-PAC functionaries which had seen considerable erosion within the Trinamool Congress in the recent past, will be dented further post the demotion of Abhishek Banerjee.
According to Trinamool Congress sources, I-PAC is now no longer a major voice when it comes to TMC’s political decisions regarding West Bengal. Last week when the party leaders met to decide who will be the mayor in Asansol, IPAC was not consulted. They further claimed that the majority of digital activities on social media for TMC that was being done by I-PAC for the last few months, have been taken away from them. This is a far cry from the time when I-PAC functionaries were considered to be even more resourceful and important than sitting MLAs and MPs of Trinamool Congress due to their ability to prepare reports about the “winnability” of ticket seekers which was then used by TMC decision makers to deny or award party tickets.
According to the spokesperson, in the meeting on Friday, Mamata Banerjee made it clear that the “old guard” has contributed massively in taking TMC where it is right now and they cannot be ignored or hurt politically by the young leaders.
“She emphasized on unity and how ‘old is always gold’. It was clear that a wing-clipping exercise was underway, with the old guard being brought forward as a buffer from the challenges of the new,” said a source.
To remove any ambiguity about who is the number two in the party, Hakim was made the administrator of a WhatsApp group that will have select members of the national working committee. Apart from Banerjee, all the other members are members of what can be called “the old guard”.
Mamata Banerjee also indirectly showed her anger over I-PAC’s and Abhishek Banerjee emphasis on creating a larger-than-party life image of the latter, an exercise which was being carried out on the direction of I-PAC founder Prashant Kishor to create a perception that Abhishek Banerjee was different from the old lot. “There was only one number 2 earlier, Abhishek Banerjee. Now apart from Hakim, there are other leaders who can claim this position, including Yashwant Sinha, Subrata Bakshi and Chandrima Bhattacharya who have been made vice-presidents and Aroop Biswas who has been appointed as the treasurer,” a Trinamool Congress functionary said.
According to party observers, Abhishek Banerjee is right now “licking his wounds” and he is not someone who will accept this new “equilibrium” for long. “He is ambitious and is being guided by Kishor, who has his own ambitions. We will see a phase of silence for the coming months, but this peace and silence is unlikely to last long,” a Kolkata-based journalist said.