Trinamool's rumblings are all about generational transition

As we await clarity on I-PAC's ties with the TMC, what is for certain is Abhishek Banerjee unsettling the old guard in the party

Generational transition in family-based parties has always been a tricky issue. It infuses new blood at many levels of the party hierarchy, for which a large section of the old guard is sacrificed. At the top, the process swings between two extremes: from forcing a change by a coup to a smooth transition.

A classic example of a tumultuous transition is the current Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu's rise to power, after which NT Rama Rao, the dethroned chief minister and Naidu's father-in-law, compared himself with Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. On the other hand, MK Karunanidhi to MK Stalin and Lalu Prasad to Tejashwi Yadav are examples of smooth transitions. The transition from Mulayam Singh Yadav to his son Akhilesh Yadav presents an in-between case.

Which way would then the transition in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) go? It is an interesting question now in light of the recent developments centring around the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC).

The transition in the TMC needs to be concluded in the next decade or so since its founder, Mamata Banerjee, is now 67. She has been nurturing her nephew Abhishek Banerjee as heir apparent for some years now. The process gathered momentum since the Assembly polls last year when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted Abhishek Banerjee to dent the TMC's support base but failed.

After the elections, Mamata Banerjee elevated her nephew, then the head of the TMC's youth wing, to the party's national general secretary. But is Abhishek Banerjee moving up too quickly?

Abhishek Banerjee brought the I-PAC to Bengal after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which saw the BJP, almost out of the blue, bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Election strategist Prashant Kishor suggested programmes like 'Didi ke Bolo' (tell didi) that targeted corruption and administrative failures at the lower levels and suggested names of the candidates.

The TMC scored a famous win in the Assembly polls. However, in the process, the I-PAC earned enemies. Several TMC leaders, including senior MLAs and MPs, became unhappy with an external outfit scrutinising their performance, allegiance and even moral character. But they could not get rid of this annoying process as the I-PAC had the strong backing of Abhishek Banerjee.

However, during the current phase of civic polls in Bengal, which started with elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the suggestions of the I-PAC are being ignored in some instances with the blessings of Mamata Banerjee. The situation has worsened for the next round of the civic polls for 108 municipalities on February 27. Two lists of candidates have come out in the open, and of the 2,272 candidates announced, the lists differed on names of nearly 120 candidates.

Mamata Banerjee has ratified the list given by the party leaders. But Abhishek Banerjee has insisted that the party is still discussing the 120-odd cases. In the meantime, news surfaced that Mamata Banerjee has decided to sever relations with the I-PAC. It was also reported that Kishor had suggested this break-up to the Bengal chief minister. But there is little clarity on this as yet.

However, in a recent TV interview, Abhishek Banerjee threw his weight behind the I-PAC, emphasising that the party will have to change and adopt new-age requirements. In that interview, Abhishek Banerjee also accepted he has a different style of functioning, stating that he is not "magnanimous like Mamata Banerjee" (who has allowed re-inducting in the party of some who had joined the BJP, such as Mukul Roy and Sabyasachi Dutta).

In fact, Abhishek Banerjee has prevented the return of many of the deserters he calls "traitors", and his aunt is unhappy with this approach. The chief minister was not pleased either when, during the Omicron wave, Abhishek Banerjee expressed his "personal opinion" for postponing the civic polls of Bidhannagar, Chandannagar, Asansol and Siliguri by two months. But the party accepted the suggestion partially and advocated delaying the election for three weeks.

At that point, party MP Kalyan Bannerjee, increasingly being sidelined in the party by Abhishek Banerjee, openly criticised the young leader. But, none from the party came forward to stand by him. Recently, Partha Chatterjee, a minister and general secretary of the party's Bengal unit, said that the "only family Mamata Banerjee has is that of the people". Incidentally, Abhishek Banerjee is now working overtime to implement 'one man, one post' in the party, which will require Chatterjee to relinquish one of his dual responsibilities.

So, the putative transition has met foul weather for the time being. But, beyond doubt, it will continue. Abhishek Banerjee has already taken control of the party, and the old guard cannot succeed in making the young leader lose his grip on it. The tussle may continue for some time, but ultimately Mamata Banerjee will have to give in to the wishes of the Young Turk if she favours a smooth transition. After all, to the party women and men, particularly those below 50, she is the 'present', but Abhishek Banerjee is the 'future'.

(Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a Kolkata-based journalist and author)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

Watch latest videos by DH here: