The Trinamul Congress has invited functionaries of other political parties, barring the BJP, as “observers” to the organisational polls to be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on February 2.

“Representatives of other political parties were invited as observers. Many of them have conveyed to us that they are pre-occupied and cannot come. However, we invited them out of courtesy,” said Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee.

“We haven’t, however, invited the BJP,” Chatterjee added.

Several Trinamul veterans described the invitation as unprecedented and said the move was aimed at showcasing the elections as a major event and “publicising” that the organisation was run democratically.

A Trinamul insider said not only representatives of other parties but journalists and members of the intelligentsia were also invited as observers to the polls on Wednesday.

Chatterjee said Left Front chairman Biman Bose and CPM leader Sukhendu Panigrahi had been invited, but they expressed their inability to attend the meet. RSP’s Manoj Bhattacharya and Forward Bloc’s Hafiz Alam Sairani will not be available either.

CPI (M-L)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya was also contacted, but he is currently in his constituency in Bihar, while SUC(I)’s Chandi Bhattacharya told the Trinamul leadership that he would be preoccupied on Wednesday.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya has been invited but he would not be available as he is in Delhi for the budget session of Parliament.

Asked about Trinamul extending an invite to Bose for the organisational poll, CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty termed the exercise as a “farce”.

“It is already decided that Mamata Banerjee will be their chairperson. Will anyone else, even Abhishek Banerjee, dare to contest against her?” Chakraborty asked.

Trinamul’s last organisational polls were held in 2017, where Mamata was unanimously picked as the party’s chairperson. Later, Mamata handpicked her core team.

Five years later, almost 1,500 party members will vote to elect the chairperson and the core group.

“This is a great opportunity for the party to break the myth that Trinamul is a two-person show and the power rests in the hands of Mamatadi and Abhishek Banerjee only. It will also help us send out a message nationally,” a source in the party said.

The source also said one of BJP’s main points of attack on Trinamul was the alleged lack of inner party democracy.

Another Trinamul leader said by reaching out to all parties other than the BJP, Trinamul was trying to cement its anti-BJP stand. It is also a step towards bringing all forces opposing the BJP together.

The decision to invite observers to Wednesday’s polls is being seen as a step towards establishing Trinamul’s national identity with an eye on the 2024 general election. The party has also invited representatives from Tripura, Goa, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, and as delegates to the Wednesday session.

SEC calls meet

The State Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday evening. The meeting will be followed by an announcement to hold civic polls on February 27, sources in the commission said.