TMC steps into 23rd year, sees defections to BJP

Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP last month, handed over party flags to the councillors at a programme at Contai in Purba Medinipur district.Adhikari said Soumendus removal was a vindictive move on the part of the state government.

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday stepped into its 23rd year amid defections in Contai civic body, which saw majority of the party's councillors deserting it for the BJP in poll-bound West Bengal. Fifteen of the total 20 councillors of the civic body, including its former administrator Soumendu Adhikari, a brother of Suvendu Adhikari, who was earlier a senior minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, joined the saffron camp.

Soumendu Adhikari had been recently removed from the administrator's post by the Mamata Banerjee government. Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP last month, handed over party flags to the councillors at a programme at Contai in Purba Medinipur district.

Adhikari said Soumendu's removal was a ''vindictive move'' on the part of the state government. ''Soumendu has a long political career ahead of him. He has worked hard all these years, and the same goes for the other councillors. The Adhikari family is no longer with the TMC, which has turned into a company,'' he said.

The former state cabinet minister also said that the Mamata Banerjee government had been delaying municipal polls, as it was scared of its ''imminent defeat''. The Contai Municipality, which has been the Adhikari family's backyard for the last four decades, has been with the TMC since 1999, just a year after it was formed.

TMC MP Sisir Adhikari, the father of Suvendu Adhikari, was chairman of the municipality for 25 years from 1971 till 2009, except for five years from 1981-86. After he became an MP, he handed over the baton to his younger son Dibyendu Adhikari. After Dibyendu Adhikari became an MP in a by-election in 2016, his younger brother Soumendu took over the post.

Things took an ugly turn after Suvendu Adhikari switched over to the BJP last month. The TMC top brass was apprehensive about the ''motives'' of the other members of the Adhikari family, who were conspicuous by their absence in recent party programmes. ''Soumendu Adhikari did not think of joining any other party so long he was an administrator. As he was removed from the post, he joined another party. This only shows their (Adhikari family's) true colour - that they can't live without the chair,'' senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said.

Meanwhile, Singur MLA and veteran party leader Rabindranath Bhattacharya hit out at the TMC leadership for paving the way for ''corrupt and dishonest'' elements by sidelining the old-timers in the party. Bhattacharya, one of the prominent faces of the Singur anti-land acquisition movement in 2006, gave the party's foundation day programme at the Hooghly district party headquarters during the day a miss. He is miffed with the growing prominence of ''dishonest people'' at various organisational levels.

On its foundation day, the TMC said party supremo Mamata Banerjee is the ''true upholder'' of Bengal's culture and values. Senior TMC leaders led by state party president Subrata Bakshi hoisted the party flag at its state headquarters and congratulated workers for their tireless efforts in serving people.

''In the past 23 years, our TMC family fought many battles whereby more and more people bestowed their faith in @MamataOfficial as the true upholder of Bengal's culture, pride & values! As we step into another year, we promise to always protect & serve the people of Bengal,'' the TMC tweeted. The comments by the TMC come in the backdrop of the raging ''outsider-insider'' debate in the state. the TMC has repeatedly branded the BJP as a party of outsiders which, it claimed, poses a threat to the culture and values of the state.

Banerjee in a series of tweets asserted that she will continue to fight and work for the people of the state in the days to come. ''As Trinamool turns 23 today, I look back at the journey we began on January 1st, 1998. Our years have been of immense struggle, but throughout this time, we have continued to achieve our objective of being committed to the cause of only the people.'' Banerjee said on Twitter.

Vowing to carry on her fight to uplift the state, she said ''On #TMCFoundationDay, I extend my sincere gratitude to our Maa-Mati-Manush and all our workers who continue to fight with us in making Bengal better and stronger each day. The Trinamool family will carry on with this resolve for times to come!'' Mocking the TMC, Dilip Ghosh, the BJP state president said, ''The TMC government's days are numbered in Bengal. This is the last time that it is observing its foundation day while being in power. ''Once it is voted out in the next assembly polls, anybody can guess the fate of the TMC,'' he added.

The TMC had issued instructions to its workers to conduct various programmes across the state to mark the occasion. The party's leaders in districts have arranged various functions and street corner meetings to highlight its achievements in the last ten years.

Banerjee broke away from the Congress and formed the TMC on January 1, 1998, intending to oust the then Left Front regime from power in the state. The party achieved its goal in May 2011 after allying with the Congress. The assembly polls are due in April-May this year and will be crucial as the resurgent BJP, which has never been in power in this politically polarised state, will seek to defeat Banerjee who has been in power for the past two consecutive terms.