Didi’s nephew to be in charge of TMC’s election campaign
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, 31, would take charge of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s campaign in the state ahead of the national elections next year, people familiar with the strategy said. The arrangement is being worked out as Mamata is expected to assume a greater national role of rallying Opposition parties in the run-up to the polls.
“We will fight the election in Mamata Banerjee’s name but she may have to spend more time outside the state in the interest of the national politics. In her absence, Abhishek Banerjee will take charge of West Bengal,” said Mamata’s aide and state assembly deputy speaker Sonali Guha.
Abhishek is TMC’s youth wing chief, a member of the party’s state committee besides being a Lok Sabha member. “Abhishek Banerjee has inherited Didi (Mamata)’s aggression and confidence. He is popular among the party’s supporters, both old and young,” said the party’s Goghat legislator, Manas Majumdar.
Abhishek, who has a master’s degree in business management, resigned from the companies he had founded after becoming a Parliament member in 2014. His wife, Rujira, and parents, Amit and Lata, look after the firms.
The ground for naming Abhishek as Mamata’s political heir has been prepared over the past few years. “Abhishek has grown up closely watching Mamata, both as an uncompromising Opposition leader and a committed and successful administrator. He has naturally inherited and developed political
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instincts. He is the future. The leader of the future will form his own team,” TMC secretary general and education minister Partha Chatterjee had said in June.
Rabindra Bharati University political science professor and psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty said the process of naming Abhishek as Mamata’s political heir is complete. “Mamata is eyeing the prime minister’s chair. She has a high chance of clinching all of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats and that number, even a few less, can make her party crucial to the formation of the new government. She will invest more time in national politics in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections and Abhishek will be the key campaigner in Bengal,” he said.
Abhishek’s media advisor Sumit Roy said the demand for the TMC leader’s time has increased manifolds.
A TMC leader, who did not want to be identified, called Abhishek “a fierce speaker” but not as accessible as his aunt. “Mamata’s biggest USP has been her down-to-earth attitude. Abhishek needs to learn more of that skill from his aunt.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has emerged as TMC’s key political opponent, is busy chalking out a campaign strategy for targeting Abhishek, according to two state committee members who did not want to be quoted.