Miffed TMC MP Satabdi Roy named state unit vice-president

As an MLA and anordinary worker, I will continue to serve my organization,Tiwari said.Asked about the appointment of Roy and other leaders inthe state committee and new faces in the district committees,Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee saidit is an organisational matter.

Three time TMC MP Satabdi Roy, whohas called a truce with the party after a brief rebellion thattriggered speculations of her crossing over to the BJP, was onSunday appointed vice-president of the West Bengal unit of theruling Trinamool Congress.

Expressing happiness over the news, Roy told reporters, shewill work as a dedicated worker of the party and ensure defeatof the BJP in the coming assembly polls.

''If you take up the matter concerning the party with thetop leadership, it is addressed. This development proves that.

''I welcome the decision'', Roy said on her appointment asthe state unit vice-president in the reshuffle.

Roy, an actor-turned-politician and a leading face in theMamata Banerjee's cultural brigade, is the third consecutiveterm Lok Sabha member from Birbhum.

She had snatched the Birbhum seat from CPI(M) heavyweightRam Chandra Dome in 2009 on debut and managed to win it by anoverwhelming margin in 2019, even as the BJP had routed theTrinamool Congress in the nearby constituencies.

Roy was among the prominent leaders who had joinedBanerjee's Singur and Nandigram movement in 2009 that endedthe Left Front rule and catapulted the feisty Bengal leader topower in the state.

The Birbhum MP had voiced dissent Friday over not beinginformed about the party events in her constituency which shesaid caused ''mental pain''.

In a Facebook post she had said that she will inform thepublic Saturday if she takes any ''decision'', following whichthe jittered Trinamool Congress leaders had started reachingout to her.

She changed her stance and expressed full confidence inthe leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee aftermeeting the Diamond Harbour MP Friday evening.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had also met Roy to dissuadeher from leaving the party.

After hammering a solution to her grievances, Roy hadSaturday praised Abhishek Banerjee, who is nephew of the chiefminister, for giving her a patient hearing and said she ''ispleased with the way the young leader assured'' her ofresolving all the issues.

Returning satisfied after a two-hour long meeting withAbhishek Banerjee she had made it clear that she will remainwith the TMC.

She also admonished party colleagues having problems likeher to discuss the issues with the party instead of lookingfor other options.

The actor-politician had said it would be ''unethical tolook for other options'' when the party is facing a toughfight.

Polls to 294-member Bengal assembly are due in April-May.

Banerjee's party is witnessing exodus of its disgruntledleaders to a resurgent saffron party which is making allefforts to win the state after an impressive performance inthe 2019 Parliamentary election winning 18 out of 42 Lok Sabhaseats in Bengal, only four less than the TMC tally of 22.

Last month, Suvendu Adhikari, along with 35 party leadersincluding five MLAs and an MP, joined the BJP, setting off achurning as several disgruntled leaders rallied behind him.

In the rejig in the TMC, the party announced new names forthe state committee which included Moazzem Hossain and ShankarChakraborty in addition to Satabdi Roy.

In another significant development, former administratorof Asansol Municipal Corporation and Trinamool leader JitendraTiwari, who had voiced discontent over running of the civicboard and had even met Suvendu Adhikari and Sunil Mondal onthe eve of their joining BJP on December 17, has been removedfrom the post of district president of Paschim Bardhaman.

Tiwari, who had iterated to work for TMC supremo MamataBanerjee after a meeting with the party leadership in the lastweek of December, has been replaced by Apurba Mukhopadhyay asthe TMC district president.

''This decision has been taken as I did not take back myresignation letter as the administrator. As an MLA and anordinary worker, I will continue to serve my organization,''Tiwari said.

Asked about the appointment of Roy and other leaders inthe state committee and new faces in the district committees,Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said''it is an organisational matter. Why should we discuss thiswith the media''? PTI SUSSNS SNS

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)