Trinamul Congress national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday took to social media again to promote his “Diamond Harbour model” and thanked people of his parliamentary constituency for their role in keeping the positive confirmation rate under 3 per cent despite proximity to Calcutta and Gangasagar.
Sources in Trinamul said the Diamond Harbour MP’s post made it clear that he was in no mood to relent with the promotion of the so-called model that has generated friction in the ruling party.
“Diamond Harbour PC (parliamentary constituency) does it once again! Despite its close proximity with Gangasagar and Calcutta, Diamond Harbour PC maintains a positivity rate (percentage of total samples testing positive for Covid-19) below 3 per cent. I wholeheartedly thank the people of Diamond Harbour for their continued support and cooperation in this fight,” posted Abhishek on Facebook.
The “model” led to confusion in the ruling dispensation since January 8 when Abhishek went public with his “personal opinion” to stop all crowd-pulling events, including fairs and elections, for two months amid the third wave. The opinion was apparently in direct contradiction of that of the state government headed by his aunt and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The confusion in Nabanna seemed to have spread to the district administration of South 24-Parganas — where Diamond Harbour is situated — that led to some laxity in the sternness of the measures supposed to be taken in the constituency.
But before leaving for a political trip to Goa, ahead of the Assembly elections there, Abhishek — according to sources — strictly directed officials against such laxity in Diamond Harbour. As a result, the administration claimed to have conducted 15,000-odd tests there on Monday and vowed to meet targets over the next few days.
Diamond Harbour police district chief Avijit Banerjee on Monday met journalists locally and said all stern measures to curb the outbreak would be continued there.
According to a senior official, Abhishek was scheduled to meet administrative officials on January 20, but it will now take place on January 22, after his return from Goa.
On Saturday, Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee warned of stern action against those who take grievances and concerns to social or mainstream media, to the detriment of the party. On Sunday, Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra mocked Chatterjee over the statement.
After what sources said was “a furious phone call” from Chatterjee, Mitra on Monday publicly issued an unconditional apology, withdrawing his statements made the day before and lauding both the secretary-general and the national general-secretary.
Hailing Abhishek as “Trinamul’s Koh-i-Noor”, Mitra compared him to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Mamata to Mahatma Gandhi.
“(Compared to them) I am but a pet of the party, a patrolman, at best,” said the former minister, adding that Chatterjee had schooled him on maintaining discipline, which he would adhere to.