Major rejig in Trinamool’s organisational posts

Along with a major reshuffle in the West Bengal state cabinet, there have been major changes in the organisational positions of Trinamool Congress as well. According to insiders, this has been done to change the public perception of the party and to pass on a strong message to the Trinamool leaders across the state, following the arrest of the party’s senior leader Partha Chatterjee.

A list released by the party shows that most district secretaries and chairpersons have been changed. Though Anubrata Mandal, in charge of Birbhum district, and who has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate regarding some cases, continues to be at the helm of the party’s affairs in the district. However, some say that the organisational changes are routine and would have taken place around this time and has nothing to do with Chatterjee’s arrest.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has been made chief of the party in Barasat, in place of Asani Mukhopadhyay, who is said to have been close to Partha Chatterjee. Former Congress MLA Saoni Sinha Roy has been put in charge of Murshidabad and Behrampore. Earlier, these two were separate units in the party. Khalilul Rehman continues to be in charge of Jangipur in Murshidabad.

In Darjeeling, the party’s organisational jurisdiction has been split into two units – with the hills put in charge of Shanta Chhetri, who is Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP. Papiya Ghosh has been put in charge of the plains.

In Jalpaiguri, Mahua Gope has been put in charge whereas Khageswar Roy has been made chairperson. Kanaialal Agrawal continues to be chief of Dakshin Dinajpur and in Malda, Abdur Rahim Baxi continues to be in charge. Samar Mukhopadhayay is the chairperson here.

Partha Bhowmick has been removed from the charge of Dum Dum, though Nirmal Ghosh continues to be the chairperson here. It is being speculated that Bhowmick may become minister in charge of one of the departments in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet. The move may have been made due to this reason.

In Serampore, Snehashish Chakraborty has been removed from charge and the area has been merged with the party’s Hooghly zone. Arindam Guin has been put in charge of this area. Asima Patra has been made chairperson here. Ramendu Sinha Roy has been made in-charge of Arambagh and Joydeb Jana has been made chairperson.

In South 24 Parganas, Subhashish Chakraborty continues to be in charge, and Ashok Deb has been made chairperson. No changes were made in Kolkata North and South, where Sudip Bandopadhyay and Debashish Kumar continues to be in charge. No changes were made in Howrah either.