1 yr of Bengal govt: Didi hints at changes in TMC
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) committees at grassroots level will undergo a major overhaul and the process for the same has already started, party chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday.
The announcement came on a day when the Banerjee-led TMC government completed one year in office.
“Presently, we are accepting suggestions from within the party. This will continue till May 20. After that, the suggestions will be scrutinised. We will reconstitute block and district-level committees,” Banerjee said.
The TMC returned to power for the third consecutive time in May last year, after sweeping the assembly elections winning 213 seats in the 294-member assembly. The BJP won 77 seats. Banerjee became the CM of the eastern state for the first time in 2011 when the TMC unseated the Left front, which had been in power continuously for 34 years. Five years later, she won a re-election, repeating the feat.
With the panchayat elections likely to be held this year, Banerjee said that besides the regular administrative meetings with district officials, she will also hold meetings with party workers right from grassroots-level up to booth-level from May 11.
“This is necessary to circulate a message, which comes from the top, right up to the grassroots level. Sometimes meetings are held at the top level but the message doesn’t percolate down to the booth level,” she added.
The BJP, however, called it the TMC’s ploy to divert attention from important issues. “...There can be no overhaul or change in the TMC. Power will be shifted from one tyrant to another within the party,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson.