After Somen Mitra's demise, Bengal Congress faces leadership crisis

Congress is facing a leadership crisis in West Bengal following the demise of state president Somen Mitra last month as neither the party High Command and nor the state unit has taken any conclusive decision regarding the issue.

While senior Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Abdul Mannan has recently written to the party High Command urging them to make Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury the state party president, the names of senior leaders such as Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya and Mannan are doing the rounds in the party.

However, according to sources, Chowdhury is not very keen on taking the post and has recommended the names of a couple of other leaders including Mannan to the central leadership. Mannan on the other hand has argued in his letter to the AICC that someone with a mass appeal in Bengal should be made the state president to keep the BJP at bay and Chowdhury is the best choice in such a situation.

Mannan also argued that due to his cordial relationship with the Left-

Interestingly, during Chowdhury’s last tenure as the state Congress president, he was not on the best of terms with Mannan. However, neither Chowdhury nor Mannan have spoken publicly on the issue. Sources close to Mannan revealed said that in the interest of the party in Bengal, Chowdhury is the best option for Congress and there is no question of any faction feud in it.

Congress sources said that the state unit was hopeful that decisions would soon be made regarding the state unit. However, no such announcement has been made so far keeping the state unit in a limbo.