Dissidence check before SMC polls

TT, Siliguri, Feb. 15: The Darjeeling plains Trinamul unit today inducted several leaders earlier sidelined in the party into its district committee, taking cue from Mamata Banerjee who rejigged the organisation to curb dissidence ahead of civic elections.

Two working presidents of the Trinamul district unit, who were seen as close to Mukul Roy, were also kept in their posts.

Both Nantu Pal and Alok Chakraborty were brought from the Congress to Trinamul by Roy. Both are believed to be at loggerheads with Gautam Deb, the north Bengal development minister who announced the inclusions today. There has also been talk that Pal and Chakraborty were keen to defect to the BJP, which has gained popularity in Siliguri since the Lok Sabha polls.

Dipak Seal, Bedabrata Dutta and Gautam Kirtaniya were included in the district committee.

The three have been with Trinamul from the time it made its first foray in the district but after the party came to power in 2011, they were sidelined by Deb.

Today's move, party insiders said, followed Mamata's decision to give leaders like Dinesh Trivedi and Subhendu Adhikari important responsibilities in the party at a time the chief minister seemed miffed at Mukul Roy.

Ninety-one civic bodies are scheduled to face elections this year. The Siliguri Municipal Corporation and the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad are also to go to polls this year, though the dates are undecided.

"Now that the civic and rural polls in Siliguri are nearing, Deb and his associates thought it apt to induct leaders of his rival lobbies into the district committee," a senior Trinamul leader based in the town, said.

"A number of such leaders have found berths in the new district committee, which indicates the message Deb wants to impart. He intends to project a unified face of Trinamul in and around Siliguri ahead of these local polls and also at a time when Trinamul is riddled with differences among its own leaders," the senior Trinamul leader said.

"That there are differences between Deb and these leaders is an open secret and is often discussed in political circles. Ahead of these polls, the district president does not want discontent. Also, the growing popularity of the BJP in Siliguri subdivision is another reason which has made Deb and his associates take the decision of inducting these leaders," he added.

Deb held a meeting of the district committee at Kiran Chandra Bhavan this afternoon.

He named Krishna Pal, who is seen as being close to him as the new and fourth working president.

The others are Nantu Pal, Chakraborty and Bhaichung Bhutia.

"The four working presidents are Krishna Pal, Nantu Pal, Alok Chakraborty and Bhaichung Bhutia. Also, there are 13 vice-presidents, nine general secretaries, 16 secretaries and a treasurer at the committee. The remaining are members, including permanent invitees and new invitees," Deb said.

"The new committee held its first meeting this afternoon where elaborate discussions were held on our campaign plans (for civic and Mahakuma rural polls)," he said.

So far, there are hints that the SMC polls are likely to be held in April this year, along with some other civic bodies of north Bengal and the state as a whole, including the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

"We will urge people to let us work alone for a term in the SMC," Deb said.