Updated: November 14, 2020 7:07:55 am
Suvendu Adhikari, Minister of Transport, has sent signals that he is upset with Trinamool’s leadership. (Photo Express: Partha Paul, File)
Suvendu Adhikari, a former Trinamool congressional deputy and now a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal cabinet, has been sending signals that he is moving away from the party leadership. On November 10, he held a rally in Nandigram during which no party banner was displayed and he was not mentioned as either the leader of Trinamool or the Minister of Transport. In a cryptic message to the party leadership, Adhikari said: “See you on the battlefield. See you on a political stage. I’m not afraid.”
All of this has fueled speculation about his possible exit from the party, either for floating his own party or for defecting to the BJP. Who is Suvendu Adhikari?
Formerly a Congressional family, the Adhikaris of East Midnapore joined the Trinamool Congress after Mamata formed the party in 1998. Suvendu is the son of three-term MP Sisir Adhikari, who was the Union Minister of State for Rural Development in UPA-2. Suvendu himself has been a deputy in UPA-1 and UPA-2. In 2007, Suvendu, then an MLA, spearheaded the movement against land acquisition in Nandigram that ultimately helped the Trinamool Congress to evict the 34-year-old Left Front government in 2011.
In 2009, Suvendu Adhikari defeated CPM strongman Lakshman Seth in Tamluk by 1.73 lakh of votes. In 2014, he was re-elected to Lok Sabha. In 2016, he won the Nandigram Assembly seat and was appointed Minister of Transport.
In September 2014, the CBI questioned Adhikari on the Saradha account fund scam. He was also seen in alleged images of the Narada scam. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
Why is it important in Bengal politics?
Adhikari is a grassroots leader who connects with the people of rural Bengal, aided by his direct speeches with a rural Bengali accent. The popular movement he led turned East Midnapore into a Trinamool stronghold. He plays a key role for the party in 16 Assembly seats in East Midnapore, and also in seats in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Murshidabad and Malda districts. As a party observer in the Murshidabad and Malda districts, he has weakened Congress by provoking defections and helped capture civic bodies one by one.
Following the BJP’s victories in 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in 2019, Adhikari became the Trinamool Congress in charge of the Assembly elections a few months later. He helped secure victory in all three by-elections, including in Kharagpur Sadar, the constituency of West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh.
So why is he drifting away?
Trinamool leaders said Adhikari has begun to distance himself from the party due to the rise of Abhishek Banerjee, a party deputy and Mamata’s nephew. Abhsihek has been given more responsibilities in managing the party, which has allegedly upset Adhikari, who had scheduled the party’s growth in various districts, Adhikari has skipped party programs and cabinet meetings – an organizational meeting Trinamool in Calcutta in March and a government Indigenous Peoples Day program in Jhargram on August 9, when he was participating instead in a private program in the same district.
On October 19, Adhikari spoke on a Netai show, Jhargram, and stressed that more attention should be paid to people’s concerns. “When I came here, many villagers told me they were unhappy. Villagers spoke about the lack of cooperation from a section of elected representatives. I will investigate whether the accusation is true or false, ”he said.
How could your alienation affect your party and your rivals?
If Adhikari remains inactive in the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress will face a challenge in many seats where it exerts its influence. The party will also struggle to find a replacement for Adhikari in East Midnapore.
No one outside the Adhikari family can match Suvendu’s charisma. Suvendu’s father, Sisir Adhikari, is in his third term as a deputy. Two other sons are in politics: Dibyendu Adhikari is the deputy of Tamluk and Soumyendu Adhikari is the president of the municipality of Contai. The Adhikaris also chair various workers’ committees and unions. Any weakening of the Trinamool base in East Midnapore will provide the BJP with a new opportunity to make inroads into the Trinamool stronghold.
Adhikari’s absence from the party’s activities in Murshidabad and Malda, on the other hand, can potentially divide Muslim votes, which traditionally stand behind Trinamool. This too can only help the BJP.
Adhikari’s absence will also hurt the Trinamool Congress in strategizing for the elections. Since Mukul Roy’s departure in 2017, Suvendu has been Trinamool’s man of reference during the elections.
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