Ahead of UK visit, Mamata Banerjee sets up GoM, task force to run Bengal govt
Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary and state unit president Subrata Bakshi and other senior leaders will manage the TMC’s affairs
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday set up a group of ministers and a task force of senior officials to ensure that governance was not impacted due to her week-long visit to the UK beginning March 21.
Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress along with Subrata Bakshi, president of the Bengal TMC unit and other senior leaders will manage the party, she said.
“The group of ministers will coordinate with us if any policy decision needs to be taken or any problem arises without taking any decision themselves. The team will comprise Chandrima Bhattacharya, Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Sujit Bose and Shashi Panja. There will be a time difference of 5.5 hours. So, I hope they will not disturb us unnecessarily and call when there is an emergency,” she said.
“As far as the party affairs are concerned, Subrata Bakshi and Abhishek Banerjee are there along with other leaders to look after it,” said
The chief minister said she was also setting up a task force of officials who will be in touch with her. “They will meet regularly, coordinate with various departments and monitor the situations that arise from natural calamities to law and order. The chief secretary has already held a meeting with all the district magistrates and superintendents of police,” she said.
The task force will comprise Nandini Chakravorty, state home secretary, Prabhat Kumar Mishra, state finance secretary, Vivek Kumar, state land and land reforms secretary, Rajeev Kumar, director general of police and Manoj Kumar Verma, Kolkata police commissioner.
Apart from a business summit and other official engagements, Banerjee is also scheduled to speak at University of Oxford’s Kellogg College during her trip.
Banerjee said that she has received invitations from several countries including Poland, Australia and Canada and would consider travelling to Japan in 2027, a remark that was aimed at signalling her confidence that the TMC would win the 2026 state elections
The chief minister accused her political rivals of playing a “dirty game” and circulating defamatory emails and WhatsApp messages about her government ahead of her visit to the UK.
“It is unfortunate that there are some ganashatru (enemies of the people) in the country and especially in our state. They are playing some dirty games through emails and WhatsApp groups. Some letters have been drafted maligning us. We have received some of them. I don’t mind and feel sad because they are my opponents,” she alleged.
The TMC supremo, however, didn’t name any political party. “Even we have people there. We can play the same game and play the same card during visit of your leaders. But we never try to do it,” she said.
Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP, sought to take a swipe at the government. “The people of West Bengal have no interest in the chief minister’s trip. Hence being the main opposition party, the BJP too has no interest in addressing this. Usually, it is seen that a senior cabinet minister is entrusted with the responsibility when a chief minister is absent. But here we are seeing some bureaucrats have been asked to run the show,” said Bhattacharya.
