TMC leaders expect structural changes in the party in North Bengal

SNS, Siliguri, 29 May 2014:Some senior Trinamul leaders here, who say that north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb was to blame for the poor show in the Lok Sabha polls in the Siliguri sub-division, are looking forward to the party chief and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s reading in tomorrow’s party meeting to be held in Kolkata.

The leaders, belonging to the anti-Deb camp, are confident of structural changes in the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri region and shuffling of heads of several development boards.

Virtually, they are waiting for Miss Banerjee’s decision to clip Mr Deb’s wings tactically. Mr Deb is the chairman of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), and other committees in the health sector.

Party sources said the image of Mr Deb and the scam in the SJDA were other reasons behind the poor performance of the Trinamul candidate in the Darjeeling LS polls, though Siliguri MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya was criticized for his role here since the Trinamul came to power.

Mr Deb disclosed to his close associates that a section of the people rejected his party candidate Bhaichung Bhutia in the LS polls due to the SJDA scam.

“Financial irregularities in the SJDA during the tenure of Rudranath Bhattacharya adversely affected the performance in the LS polls.

“A section of the people, who belonged to our camp, went to other political parties,” Mr Deb disclosed.

Sources said Mr Deb failed to tackle the situation in the SJDA when Miss Banerjee had asked him to replace Mr Bhattacharya. “I don’t know whether my party will announce structural changes in the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri region tomorrow, but it is evident that the leadership will change the organizational structure in this region and some new faces would be coming up as heads of some boards,” a senior Trinamul leader, who will attend tomorrow’s meeting in Kolkata, said over telephone.

“The state leadership is aware of the grievances against the north Bengal development minister and why the people, including traders, in Siliguri, Phansidewa, Naxalbari and the Indo-Nepal border areas rejected the Trinamul in the polls,” he said, adding, “Traders here were upset following continuous ‘extortion’, which was carried out by close associates of Mr Deb. As a result, they took revenge in the LS polls.”

A new Trinamul leader, Prabal Raha, the former senior Forward Bloc leader in Jalpaiguri, said: “I was suffering from breathing problems politically in FB. I joined the Trinamul Congress five months ago. Today I am happy with the political jobs assigned o me by the Trinamul leadership.”

“The present government is taking many positive steps in the interest of the people. Now there is a new organizational network so that the government’s facilities can reach out to the people,” he said over phone from Kolkata, adding, “We expect that state Trinamul leadership to formulate a new structure for rapid development in north Bengal districts.”