Amid speculations over the next move of senior Trinamool Congress leader Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP on Saturday said that the party is in touch with him while the TMC was hopeful about reopening dialogue with its disgruntled functionary. Adhikari stepped down from the Mamata Banerjee cabinet in which he was the minister in charge of transport, waterways and irrigation on Friday, and his resignation was accepted by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. He, however, did not quit the party or resign as an MLA.
All eyes are now at Adhikari's scheduled meeting at Mahisadal in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday afternoon.
The event assumes significance as polls in the state, where BJP has made deep inroads, is due in April-May 2021 and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will seek to return to power for the third consecutive term. Adhikari was said to be unhappy over organisational changes in the TMC and the growing clout of election strategist Prashant Kishor and Banerjee's nephew Abhishek, the Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour, in the decision-making process of the government. Adhikari's exit from the cabinet on Friday is seen as a prelude to the severing of his two- decade-old association with the TMC right form its inception in 1988.
Importance of Suvendu Adhikari
Suvendu, a grassroots charismatic leader with a huge sway in the rural belts, is a member of the powerful Adhikari family of East Midnapore district. His father Sisir Adhikari and younger brother Dibyendu Adhikari are TMC MPs from Tamluk and Kanthi Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. Sisir was a minister in the UPA-1 government. Adhikari had played a vital role in TMC's Nandigram anti-land eviction movement in 2007, which had helped the party snatch power from the left front. The land acquisition movements in Nandigram in East Midnapore district and Singur in Hooghly are considered to be two pillars which laid the foundation of the TMC government led by Banerjee in 2011.
Apart from East Midnapore district, Adhikari holds sway in about 35 assembly constituencies in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and parts of Birbhum. Bankura, West Midnapore and Purulia were all impregnable left front strongholds which he managed to drill into.
What will TMC do next?
TMC MP Saugata Roy who, along with fellow MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, was tasked by the party top brass to hold parleys with Adhikari over his grievances, expressed hope that there will be talks between the two sides. "Doors are still open for talks with Suvendu. There should be discussions with him. I am hopeful of dialogue between Suvendu and the party leadership," Roy said when asked about retaining the mass leader in the party.
"Suvendu's mother is ill, so the talks may have to wait till she gets well," said Roy, who also enjoys a cordial relationship with Adhikari's father and Kanthi MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari. Two rounds of dialogues between Adhikari and Roy had remained inconclusive.
The TMC leadership, which had initiated backchannel talks with him, has now decided to adopt a "wait and watch" approach and will not initiate any further discussions from their end to address his grievances.
-Inputs from agencies
