Trinamul grapples with newbie pangs

TT, 14 Mar 2019, Calcutta/Cooch Behar: Discontent brewed within Trinamul over the selection of candidates -- eight of whom are recent defectors from other parties while some are green horns -- leaving sections of the leadership worried over what impact it might have in the elections.

Many in the rank and file have wondered whether dedicated service to the party for years counted when rewarding defection seemed to be the order of the day.

According to a Trinamul leader, even when the "adi (old)" Trinamul candidates are fielded over the "nobyo (new)", there are many problems because of the intense internal rivalry between factions in the ruling party camp. But this time, because there are so many nobyo candidates, the focus is on this aspect.

"Eight recent defectors on the list of 42 make it nearly one out of every five. That has generated considerable bitterness," he said.

The eight in question are Manas Bhuniya in Midnapore, Mala Roy in Calcutta South, Kanaia Lal Agarwal in Raig- anj, Mausam Noor in Malda North, Apurba Sarkar in Behrampore, Abu Taher in Murshidabad and Asit Mal in Bolpur, all of whom are recent defectors from the Congress, besides Paresh Adhikary, a recent defector from Forward Bloc, fielded in Cooch Behar.

"Several workers and leaders have said that working for other political parties and making a mark there, then defecting to Trinamul seems to promise better prospects than toiling with blood and sweat for Trinamul itself," said a ruling party source.Besides, according to him, there is discontent over the candidature of a few sitting MPs with allegedly little work to show in five years, such as Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat, whom Trinamul leaders in north Bengal have publicly criticised.

"The selection of a GJM leader (Amar Singh Rai) for candidature with Trinamul's symbol in Darjeeling was also not taken well by some sections," said a Trinamul leader.

Mamata, aware of the discord her selection of candidates has caused, saidon Wednesday: "I had to strike a fine balance....ensuring representation of women, minorities, tribals......Our list is unity in diversity," she said. "Everybody can't be accommodated all the time. Those who want to look elsewhere over such trivialities are free to leave. I don't care." However, sources said the recent defectors were all picked in seats deemed challenging. The greeehorns -- imports from Tollywood -- were also fielded in difficult seats, said sources.