A week after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee dissolved all posts and announced forming of the party's new national working committee, all speculations concerning her ‘rift’ with nephew Abhishek Banerjee were put to rest on Friday when Mamata reappointed him as party’s national general secretary.
The announcement was made by Partha Chatterjee, senior Trinamool leader and member of the party’s new national working committee. The party announced three national vice presidents - Yashwant Sinha, former Union finance minister, Subrata Bakshi, Trinamool MP in Rajya Sabha, and Chandrima Bhattacharya, a minister in the state government.
Arup Biswas, a minister in the state government has been made the treasurer, and Firhad Hakim, Kolkata mayor and a minister has been assigned the task of coordination as member of the committee.
Sinha and Amit Mitra, former Bengal finance minister and now principal chief advisor to the chief minister, will draft the party's policy on economic and external affairs. This move highlights the fact that the party is moving towards building itself at the national scene.
Two major patterns emerge from the appointments and announcements. By dissolving the old committee and drawing all powers to her last week, Mamata had clarified that she has the final say. With the reappointment of her nephew Abhishek as the general secretary, she has made it clear that her trust fully rests with him.
By announcing a team to formulate economic and external affairs policies in sync with the party's ideology, Mamata has reaffirmed the party's ambitious plans to branch out nationally and gear up for a national role, if a chance arises in 2024.
Emphasis is also visible on communication externally, and within the party. The party has announced the appointment of three national spokespersons - Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, MP in Rajya Sabha, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, MP in Lok Sabha, and Mahua Moitra, MP in Lok Sabha.
The spokespersons will frequently present the party's stand on different issues from Trinamool’s office in New Delhi. The new working committee members will be connected in a Whatsapp group for faster communication on issues of concern.
The party’s affairs in the North East will be looked after by Sushmita Dev, Mukul Sangma and Subal Bhowmik. The Friday’s meeting was attended by special invitees from different states.
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