A churning within the ruling Trinamul is on the anvil as aspirations and promises come to clash over the next few months. Seemingly unrelated events unfolding over the past few months are now falling into place, as the party dithers over the fate of two ministers, one ailing and the other unwilling.

The ailing minister is Sadhan Pande. And finance minister Amit Mitra is reluctant to continue.

Little over a month ago, Pande, currently under treatment in Mumbai, was retained as minister without portfolio, and his departments (consumer affairs, self help group and self-employment) handed over to Subrata Mukherjee.

Mitra, on the other hand, has been reluctant to make any public appearances, and did not contest the elections. From November 5 he will cease to continue as Bengal's finance minister.

Urban development minister Chandrima Bhattacharya’s presence at the GST council meeting held last Friday has led to speculation that she could be Mitra’s replacement. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s choice to replace Mitra however is not anyone from her own party but the BJP’s economist-legislator, Ashok Kumar Lahiri, former chief economic adviser to the Narendra Modi government.

Trinamul is actively wooing the first-time legislator who had raised eyebrows by placing Mitra above his predecessor Asim Dasgupta as finance minister during the debate in the state Assembly on the 2021-22 budget.

Sources said the BJP’s current unofficial top leader in the state, Suvendu Adhikary, also the leader of the Opposition, is aware of Trinamul’s plans for Lahiri. "Suvendu is determined not to let it happen under his watch,” said a source.

The few legislators of the BJP who have flipped to the Trinamul were turncoats. Lahiri, if decides to switchover, would be the first sitting MLA from the BJP to make a move, like Babul Supriyo, the Asansol MP, did on Saturday.

During her first meeting with Supriyo on Monday, sources said, the chief minister apparently promised him the urban development department, currently headed by Chandrima Bhattacharya. Supriyo has already declared that he would resign from the Lok Sabha soon. He could then be made a minister and then get elected to the Assembly in six months.

The possible choice of seat for Supriyo could be Maniktala, the current MLA of which is the ailing Sadhan Pande.

While Maniktala appears to be the solution, it could also be the source of trouble for Mamata in the coming days. At this moment Maniktala is a pie that has too many eyes on it.

The biggest claimant to the Maniktala seat is Shrreya Pande, daughter of the ailing minister. Since July Shrreya has been a regular at her father’s constituency offices in Goabagan and Kakurgachhi. Shrreya who had once dabbled in acting, calls herself a social worker on her Facebook page. She has been attending Trinamul party events, blood donation camps, football matches, religious festivals held in her father’s constituency, making clear her aspirations to take the next step in politics.

“Sadhan da has been a nine-time legislator. In case the party decides to replace him mid-term, bringing an outsider like Babul won’t be easy. The Pande family has a following in the area,” said a Trinamul insider.

Also eyeing the seat is Trinamul spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, a former Rajya Sabha MP, whose rehabilitation in the party since his fallout with Mamata after he was once arrested in connection with the Saradha scam is still incomplete. Also looking for his share is the party’s Bidhannagar councillor Shanti Ranjan Kundu, also head of the youth wing in North Calcutta.

“It is difficult to say how the scenario will unfold but it is not going to be easy. The party will have to placate Shrreya too,” said a Trinamul leader.