Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee was conspicuous in his near-total absence from the Trinamul Congress meeting that was convened to decide on the further course of action on the movement against the Centre he had solely led in September-October.
The Trinamul national general secretary made a brief appearance virtually on a giant screen at the Netaji Indoor Stadium to greet the gathering with folded hands. State party president Subrata Bakshi told the audience that Abhishek had been advised medical rest on account of an ocular condition.
The chief minister had called on him after the Bengal Global Business Summit on Wednesday.
While the possibility of Abhishek’s physical absence from the dais was known since Wednesday, there were expectations that he would, at least, deliver a virtual address.
“You saw exactly how badly swollen his left eye is. The eyeball has a blood clot, from a reaction to wearing contact lenses for too long. As you know he has had to undergo many surgeries, in India and abroad, in the left eye and its surrounding areas since that horrid accident,” said a senior minister, unwilling to read much into the absence.
He was referring to the October 2016 highway crash near Singur in which Abhishek badly injured his left eye.
Speculation has been rife in sections within the ruling party over the past few weeks over Abhishek’s displeasure over mainly three elements.
First, he disliked having to press the pause button on October 9 on the movement he led solely — as Mamata was unwell then — in Delhi and Calcutta. He also did not take kindly to the miss of his declared deadline of November 1 to resume the agitation if the Centre didn’t release the funds due to Bengal.
Second, said sources, Abhishek did not want his aunt to conduct a media conference to issue a statement of firm support, a day ahead of minister Jyoti Priya Mallick’s arrest for alleged corruption by the Enforcement Directorate. They said Abhishek’s lack of fondness for Mallick — a representative of Trinamul’s old guard — is no secret, as is the young MP’s dislike for active backing of those accused of corruption.
Third, many of his recommendations purportedly went unheeded during the restructuring of Trinamul’s district units. He did not participate in a meeting earlier this month when such decisions were finalised.
“Since Durga Puja, his political activities have been confined to his Lok Sabha constituency, in case you hadn’t noticed…,” said a Trinamul insider.
“Sure, the eye condition is real, and he is undergoing treatment and needs rest. But doctors have not advised him against speaking into a phone, even for a few minutes, to the best of my knowledge.”