Abhishek Banerjee dares BJP on December deadline

Sources in Trinamul say rally was to prove Suvendu was not a factor even in his home district

Abhishek Banerjee addresses the rally at Contai on Saturday: Jahangir Badsha

Anshuman Phadikar And Snehamoy Chakraborty   |   TT  |  Contai/Calcutta   |   04.12.22 : 

Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday tossed up the possibility of “slightly opening the door” of his party this December to witness what happens to the BJP.

The dare alluding to an exodus from the BJP to Trinamul was aimed at countering BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s comments of a “December deadline” to change the state of affairs in Bengal. 

“Let’s open the door slightly this December and see what happens.... If we open the door of the party fully, the BJP would collapse. What do you think? Should we open the door or not?” asked Abhishek at a rally in Prabhat Kumar College grounds, barely 200 metres from Shanti Kunja, the Adhikari family residence. 

“Half the people want the door to open and the rest don’t want...  So, I will slightly open the door this December,” he said.

Sources in Trinamul said Abhishek’s comment had a strong basis as several BJP lawmakers have been trying to switch to Trinamul. The tally of the BJP, which got 77 seats in the Assembly polls in 2021, has already come down to 70.

Multiple Trinamul sources said Abhishek’s strategy to use the December refrain was a smart counter to Adhikari’s regular mention of “December deadline”, and the forecast that the “biggest thief of Bengal” would be arrested this month.

Abhishek went on an all out attack on the Adhikari family which had two Trinamul MPs (Suvendu’s father Sisir and brother Dibyendu), one MLA (Suvendu) and chairman of Contai civic board (brother Soumendu), and instructed party colleagues in the district to launch a monthlong movement against the “traitors of East Midnapore”. 

Sources in Trinamul said Saturday’s mega rally by Abhishek was to prove Suvendu Adhikari was not a factor even in his home district in the upcoming panchayat polls.

“This is no longer a citadel of Adhikaris. It is the bastion of Maa-Mati-Manush as he (Suvendu) was defeated in his own municipality and in the ward he lives (in Contai civic polls). People of Contai and East Midnapore rejected him and they would do the same in the upcoming panchayat polls,” said Abhishek. 

“I personally apologise on behalf of Trinamul as the party and Mamata Banerjee trusted him.... But he did all possible corruption with the government money here with the help of a few contractors and government officials...,” said Abhishek, adding that they had the details of the corruption.

Trinamul leaders said they have taken up the challenge to rid the district of the influence of Adhikari, who had defeated Mamata in the Assembly polls in Nandigram by a slim margin.

Although Trinamul is not leaving any stone unturned to wipe out the BJP from the district in the rural polls, the mission seems to be easier said than done and Abhishek himself felt it while he was on his way to the meeting venue on Saturday.

Headed towards Contai, Abhishek’s convoy had pulled up at Marishda village, where a dozen women told him that they did not get the benefits of various state government schemes. Taken aback, Abhishek listened to their complaints and took down their phone numbers, assuring that the guilty, whoever it was, would be punished. At the Contai rally, Abhishek asked the chief and the deputy chief of the gram panchayat, as well as the local party president, to put in their papers within two days.