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Eye on Tripura assembly polls, Mamata’s nephew to head for N-E state today
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), after returning to power in West Bengal for the third consecutive term with a sweeping victory in the recent assembly elections, is now focusing on Tripura where assembly polls are due in 2023
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to head for Tripura today to bolster the party’s organisational setup in the north-eastern state.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), after returning to power in West Bengal for the third consecutive term with a sweeping victory in the recent assembly elections, is now focusing on Tripura where assembly polls are due in 2023.
Speculations are rife that a few political leaders may join the TMC in Abhishek Banerjee’s presence today. Last week, seven senior Congress leaders in Tripura, including former minister Prakash Chandra Das, former MLA Subal Bhowmik, All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Panna Deb and Congress minority leader Md. Idris Miah joined the TMC.
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“Wherever the TMC has landed, other political parties have been reduced to zero. The same would happen in Tripura,” said Sudip Banerjee, TMC MP and floor leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.
The state is currently ruled by BJP -- Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (BJP-IPFT) alliance.
“The TMC has no existence outside Bengal. Let the party set up its base in Tripura first. They can then think of reducing other parties to zero,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP president in West Bengal.
The TMC renewed its contract with Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the company launched by election strategist Prashant Kishor, till the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A three-member team of the TMC visited Tripura last week to meet members of I-PAC who were purportedly confined to a hotel by the Tripura police.
A team of senior TMC leaders, including ministers Bratya Basu and Moloy Ghatak, left for Tripura early Monday morning. The TMC alleged that party posters in Agartala were torn ahead of Banerjee’s visit.
“Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to hold some meetings with TMC leaders in the state to boost the party’s organisational set up. He would also offer puja at Tripureswari temple. He would also meet media persons later during the day,” said a TMC leader.
