In a major decision, Congress president Rahul Gandhi booted out West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and replaced him with veteran Congress leader Somen Mitra, who was close to his father Rajiv Gandhi.
However, the decision to appoint Mitra (77) is being seen as a step backward in the plans to revive Congress in Bengal; he is known to be suffering from health issues. Mitra suffers from multiple heart ailments and a kidney disease.
"So, many would not expect him to travel extensively across the state even during elections. He would probably work as strategist," said a Congress leader.
Mitra was a two-time Congress president from Bengal, and the reason behind Mamata Banerjee's ouster from the party in 1998. Known to be a mass leader, Mitra, even today, attracts youth from across the state. So, the decision is seen as a move to prevent the further decline of Congress in West Bengal.
Mitra had joined hands with Mamata Banerjee and TMC after leaving Congress in 2008; he had become a TMC MP in 2009. In 2014, however, he resigned from his Lok Sabha seat and rejoined Congress.
Mitra, now a strong critic of Banerjee, had advised Congress president Rahul Gandhi about the steps required to revive Congress. They should not play second fiddle to TMC in the state, he had said.
"For quick benefits, we may ally with the TMC. However, for the sake of the Congress, if we are concerned about the party's future at all, it will be better to fight the TMC," he said.
Chowdhury's ouster is also seen as a result of his failure to reunite the Congress.
"Several Congress leaders had opposed the high-handedness of Adhir Chowdhury in running the Congress. He was the reason behind senior leader Manas Bhuiyan's exit from the party," said a Congress leader.
Chowdhury, who had opposed any kind of alliance with Trinamool Congress, has been made the chairman of the campaign committee of the Congress in Bengal. By doing that, Rahul has signalled that both Mitra and Chowdhury, who are opposed to Banerjee, would spew venom against her and would not let BJP emerge as the opposition party in Bengal.
However, a section of political observers have sounded the possibilities of Chowdhury's growing intimacy with many BJP leaders in Delhi. Chowdhury, though, is often seen criticising the BJP, but never strongly refuting the rumours about him being close to key BJP leaders. One probable reason, which perhaps prevents him from coming too close to BJP is that his constituency in Murshidabad's Berhampore is a Muslim-dominated district.
Apart from Mitra and Chowdhury, Rahul also appointed another veteran leader, Pradip Bhattacharya, as chairman of the coordination committee. Four senior leaders Sankar Malakar, Nepal Mahato, Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury (known to be in favour of an alliance with Trinamool Congress) and Deepa Dasmunshi (another strong Mamata baiter) were appointed working presidents of the Congress.
MP Abhijeet Mukherjee, son of former president Pranab Mukherjee, has been made the chairman of the manifesto committee of the party.
