Factionalism in Cong in Bengal intensifies
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s advice for unity in the state party unit has apparently failed to yield the desired results. A group of dissidents has not yet accepted the appointment of Manas Bhunia as the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president. Party insiders revealed that the dissident faction is toying with the idea of fielding former working president Pradip Bhattacharya as a candidate for the post of the state president. The last dated filing of nominations is September 12.
“Our stand is clear: the president should be appointed through either consensus or election. Neither of these processes was followed in Mr Bhunia’s selection,” said Shankar Singh, a prominent rebel leader and a close associate of Deepa Das Munshi.
Mr Singh was among over a dozen district presidents who were sacked a month after Mr Bhunia took charge of the WBPCC.
In August, the sacked district presidents had visited Delhi and met both Mr Gandhi and Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi to lodge their protest against their unceremonious ouster. In a bid to placate them, the party high command made Pradip Bhattacharya as the Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc) state chief. But apparently he has not been placated.
The WBPCC list which is likely to be announced shortly has further fuelled discontent.
“We have learnt that nearly 40 to 50 senior partymen have been dropped. It is acts like this arbitrary exclusion and inclusion of names in the WBPCC list that cause heartburns among those who have selflessly served the party for years,” Mr Singh added.
Speculation was doing the rounds after the sacking of the district presidents that they paid a price for opposing alliance with Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
“There is no basis in the charge. We are not against alliance. We merely wanted alliance with dignity. This is precisely what Mr Gandhi said during his recent visit to Kolkata,” Mr Singh pointed out.
The rebel camp’s morale has been boosted by Mr Gandhi’s assertion that self-respect cannot be sacrificed for the sake of alliance.
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