A sudden visit of Partha Pratim Roy, the Trinamul MP of Cooch Behar, to the residence of north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh on Monday to greet the latter after Durga Puja fuelled speculations in the party.

The reason: for the past one year or so, relations between the two soured over a number of issues. In fact, both were not seeing eye to eye and Ghosh had gone to the extent of announcing in public that none should call him as “Kaka” (uncle), as Partha addresses him.

On Sunday, Roy, who is also the district youth Trinamul president, reached Ghosh’s home with a packet of sweets. “He is my political guru. It is obvious that I would seek his blessings and greet him after Durga Puja. That is why I came to his place,” said the MP.

With a smiling face, he greeted Ghosh for “Bjijoya Dashami” and also offered him “pronam,” much to the surprise of others present there.

“It is interesting to see the MP turn up at the house of the minister. It was Ghosh who had brought him to politics and was instrumental in getting his name approved as the candidate for the Cooch Behar Parliament seat. However, over the past one year, their relationship deteriorated. The differences widened during the rural elections, when frequent clashes occurred between the youth lobby and the parent party over selection of candidates,” said a senior Trinamul leader.

In Cooch Behar, it is not the BJP but the internal differences were the topmost concern of Trinamul leaders. Even the Bengal BJP leadership intervened time and again to control the situation, but differences widened and sparked violence.

In such a situation, Roy’s visit to Ghosh’s house – who is also the district Trinamul president – might be an indication for a patch-up, said party insiders.

“Parliament elections are ahead and it is an open secret that Trinamul here has many lobbies which have even led to loss of lives. It is high time that the youths and the parent party join hands and strive together to ensure that Trinamul wins the Cooch Behar seat again,” said an insider.

The minister however, was brief in his reaction.

“Hundreds of people are visiting my house everyday to greet me during Bijoya Dashami. There is no point in attaching significance to somebody’s visit. Also, in our party, there is no difference among the leaders. We are all together and would naturally meet and greet each other,” he said.