E-Paper
Bengal: TMC removes Suvendu Adhikari’s father from another post
Soumen Mahapatra will replace Sisir Adhikari as the district unit chief while legislator Akhil Giri, a known detractor of Suvendu Adhikari, has been made its coordinator
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday removed Lok Sabha member Sisir Adhikari as the East Midnapore district unit head weeks after his son, Suvendu Adhikari, defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sisir Adhikari was earlier stripped of the chairmanship of Digha Shankharpur Development Authority (DSDA) in the district.
Sisir Adhikari’s eldest son, Dibyendu, is also a TMC Lok Sabha. Suvendu Adhikari, a former legislator, joined the BJP on December 19 in presence of Union home minister Amit Shah along with six TMC legislators, a Lok Sabha member of Parliament, and over a dozen other leaders.
Also Read: BJP gets a boost in Darjeeling with a clutch of GJM leaders joining it
Soumen Mahapatra will replace Sisir Adhikari as the district unit chief while legislator Akhil Giri, a known detractor of Suvendu Adhikari, has been made its coordinator. On Tuesday, Giri was also made chairman of DSDA.
Suvendu Adhikari’s younger brother, Soumendu Adhikari, has also joined the BJP, which is hoping to wrest power from the TMC in the state after emerging as the second-biggest party in West Bengal in the 2019 national polls.
“Reorganising a district committee is the party’s internal decision. I have nothing more to add to this,” said TMC spokesman Saugata Roy.
On Tuesday, Suvendu Adhikari reacted sharply to his father’s removal from DSDA, saying those who removed him “will be removed from West Bengal in May” when the state is due to go to the polls.
Sisir Adhikari is the senior-most TMC parliamentarian and has been chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s close associate since the party was founded in 1998.
Soumendu Adhikari has challenged his removal as the head of the Kanthi civic body in the Calcutta High Court.
