In Partha Chatterjee’s eclipse, the rising sun of Abhishek Banerjee | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
From TMC’s V-P poll decision to minister’s removal, 34-year-old Abhishek takes lead, gets credit for fast action
Dropping of Partha Chatterjee as Cabinet minister, stripping of all government and party portfolios from him, and his suspension, all within nine days of his arrest in a school recruitment scam. The speed and unprecedented nature of the Trinamool Congress’s action against one of its topmost leaders has the fingerprints of Abhishek Banerjee all over it.
The TMC’s all-India general secretary and fast-rising star, Abhishek has been biding his time in the wings, mindful of aunt Mamata Banerjee’s old guard. But the embarrassment of Chatterjee’s arrest and the alleged crores pouring out of premises linked to him, coming on top of other setbacks to the TMC, have cleared an opening for him to move in.
Reacting to the TMC’s action against him, Chatterjee did not hide his displeasure Friday. “Mamata did the right thing, but I am a victim of conspiracy. What the party has done, time will tell whether it is right or not,” he said.
In the days following the TMC’s triumphal return to power in West Bengal last year, Abhishek had been tasked with primarily helping the party grow outside the state. However, that project has sputtered following the setbacks in Goa and Tripura, bringing Abhishek’s focus back to Bengal.
The image of Trinamool Congress is not based on individual follies. Trinamool’s credibility is decided by the people and till the time people continue to put their faith in us, our image cannot take a beating.
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