Mamata’s absolute authority over her party gives her an edge against BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is known to run the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with an iron fist ensuring that her decision is final in every party matter. The maverick politician is known to react sternly in case of any defiance despite her courteous manner with her other senior party colleagues.

Although her style of running the party has drawn criticism from Opposition leaders accusing her of being an autocrat but it may very well prove to be a blessing in disguise to keep BJP at bay as her style of leadership has been able to iron out any factional feud at the top level of her party.

The shrewd politician is aware that to take on a regimented and cadre-based party like BJP in the 2021 Assembly elections she has to have full control of TMC. Following the setback in the last Lok Sabha elections, Mamata made it clear that she would pay as much as attention to the party organization as she does to governance.

Interestingly BJP capitalised on TMC’s faction feud in the last Lok Sabha elections and gave a major jolt to Mamata by bagging 18 seats in the state. The saffron party was able to rope in several TMC leaders known for their organizational capabilities.

But now it seems that the tables are turning on the saffron party as according to sources a section of senior party leaders are not happy with the way state president Dilip Ghosh is functioning. Ghosh’s recent remark that he alone is capable of bringing “change” in the state has not gone down well with a section of state BJP leaders. BJP sources said that these leaders are viewing Ghosh’s comment as a means of making other state leaders irrelevant.

TMC also has no lack of faction feud which often leads to bloodshed but unlike BJP the internal discontent is at the local level and has very little effect on the decision-making process of the party. A senior TMC leader said that Mamata‘s “tough style” of running her party will be her key advantage over BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections.