CM Mamata Banerjee to have final say in Trinamool reshuffle in Feb
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Kolkata: The much-anticipated organisational restructuring in West Bengal's Trinamool Congress is expected to take place in the first or second week of February, with party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee having the ultimate word.
According to party insiders, Bengal's popular Saraswati Puja is scheduled for the first week of February, after which the Chief Minister will give her final approval to the proposed organisational overhaul.
“In subsequent internal party meetings, the Chief Minister had made it very clear that she will be having the final say in all the internal party matters and organisational decisions for at least the next 10 years and hence as regards the proposed organisational reshuffle her decision will also be final,” said a party leader and a member of the state cabinet who refused to be named.
Political observers think that the Chief Minister’s clear message of still being the final word in the party's organisational matters is a clear attempt to end the ongoing internal debate within Trinamool Congress involving the “old guards” and “fresh blood”.
Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee has already submitted his suggestions on the organisational reshuffle to the Chief Minister and in February it will be clear how much of those suggestions are accepted and how much rejected.
According to party insiders, besides internal party organisational reshuffles, the general secretary has also suggested a change of heads at the municipality levels, especially in those urban civic bodies where BJP’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections last year had been better than that of the Trinamool Congress.
Party insiders said that going by that logic changes at the top level in at least 69 municipalities in the state will have to be implemented since in those urban civic bodies BJP was ahead of Trinamool Congress in terms of votes secured in the Parliamentary polls last year. However, party insiders said that which portion of Abhishek Banerjee's suggestions would be implemented will depend on the final decision of the Chief Minister.
With inputs from IANS