The Congress Party’s decision to change the West Bengal party president has surprised many. Somen Mitra on Friday took over as the state party president replacing Adhir Chowdhury. Many look at this important decision – ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – as a simple strategy: to make Mamata Banerjee happy.
The Trinamool Congress chief is not known to share a great rapport with Adhir Chowdhury, the former Congress chief in the state. In fact, Chowdhury has been the most vocal about his criticism of Mamata Banerjee over the years. Under this backdrop, Adhir Chowdhury’s removal as the state Congress chief doesn’t come as a huge surprise considering the 2019 general elections is all about Opposition unity in the country.
Mamata Banerjee has been meeting the Congress’s central leadership more frequently in recent times, and the Opposition unity has been a matter of intense discussion. Banerjee has also said on various occasions that the Congress opposing her party in Bengal goes against the way the tie between the two parties was going strong nationally.
But Chowdhury has gone on targeting Mamata Banerjee publicly even after her meetings with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Chowdhury has said in the recent past that Banerjee’s single most agenda was to be the prime minister of the country and she was hankering for the post. He has called her a “chameleon” who changed colours – on the one hand trying to finish off the Congress in West Bengal and on the other hand, seeking the party’s support nationally in the Lok Sabha polls.
All this has not gone down well with the Congress’ central leadership, it seems. For, the Congress has selected as its new state president the veteran Somen Mitra, who was even a Trinamool Congress MP from 2009 to 2014 from the Diamond Harbour constituency. Mitra had left the Congress in 2008 and formed a new party called the Pragatisheel Indira Congress, which had then merged with the Trinamool Congress in 2009. Subsequently, he rejoined the Congress.
The embarrassing question for the state Congress however, is how the party in West Bengal can oppose the ruling Trinamool Congress under the leadership of someone who was once the part of ruling party? More embarrassing perhaps is the question of whether bringing in Mitra to head the state unit of the Congress party was actually to lessen its friction with the ruling Trinamool Congress in view of the national political dynamics ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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