Mamata Banerjee to meet CMs of non-BJP ruled states next month to discuss threat to federalism

By Express News Service

KOLKATA: The second meeting of Trinamool Congress’s newly constituted national working committee is likely to be held in Delhi in presence of the party’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee. The date of the meeting is expected to be after March 10, after the announcement of Assembly election results in the five states.

“In the meeting, we may discuss our stance in national politics depending on the results of the Assembly polls in five states. The chief minister herself will chair the meeting and give us the future roadmap in the arena of national politics,’’ said a senior TMC leader.

The leader said the Bengal chief minister and the national working committee may meet the heads of the non-BJP ruled states in March over the issue of the country’s federal structure and overstepping of constitutional rights by governors in the non-BJP states.

Mamata recently communicated with Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin over the issue of constitutional overstepping and brazen misuse of power by governors.

On Friday, Mamata, in the first meeting of the national working committee at her Kalighat residence, reinstated her nephew as the party’s national general secretary inducting three others as vice-president. Earlier Mamata dissolved all posts of the party in the national-level hierarchy.

Former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha, Subrata Bakshi, and Chandrima Bhattacharya were selected as the vice-president. ‘’Induction of three others in the newly created vice-president post seems to be an attempt to clip Abhishek’s wings as the recent development in the party suggested growing distance between him and the party supremo,’’ said another TMC leader.

Sinha, Bakshi, and Chandrima are believed to be among those who are from Mamata’s close circle.

In the selection process of candidate lists for the upcoming municipal elections in 107 civic bodies scheduled to be held on February 27, Mamata turned down Abhishek’s idea of fielding new faces in the fray. Prashant Kishor’s team IPAC, which was hired on Abhishek’s suggestion, uploaded a candidate list in the party social media platform without Mamata’s approval and the party had to announce a fresh list of candidates.    

There was a strong buzz doing the rounds that Abhishek expressed a desire to step down as his earlier post in the hierarchy and Mamata was in no mood to dissuade him.