Trinamul turncoat and former state minister Rajib Banerjee, who left the BJP after a nine-month stint and rejoined Mamata Banerjee’s party in Agartala on Sunday, is set to be the party’s Tripura in-charge.
Rajib will “camp” in Tripura for at least 25 days a month till the 2023 Assembly polls.
Trinamul general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said this during the steering committee meeting of the state unit that followed his Sunday rally in Agartala.
Ashish Lal Singh, a senior member of Trinamul’s Tripura state unit, told this paper on Monday: “Our national general secretary Abhishekji said at the meeting that Rajibji will be our state in-charge. He also revealed Rajibji will be staying in the state for at least at least 25 days a month till the 2023 polls. Abhishekji will be visiting the state thrice a month. This shows how focussed is our party to form the government in 2023 and end BJP’s misrule.”
Tripura goes to polls in 2023 where Trinamul is eyeing to wrest from the ruling BJP-IPFT combine. Trinamul is seeking electoral inroads in Tripura and Goa which could help it position itself as a key player in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A Tripura watcher said Trinamul’s move to “station” Rajib in the state reminded them of Sunil Deodhar, then BJP’s Tripura in-charge, hailed as the architect of the safron party’s victory in the 2018 polls, ending the Left's uninterrupted 25-year-rule.
“Deodhar played a huge role in ensuring BJP’s victory. Usually a state in-charge flies in and out but he camped in Tripura for nearly two-and-a-half years. Trinamul too wants its in-charge to be present in the state and work closely with state leaders,” he said
Trinamul’s immediate test will be the November 25 urban body polls in the state.
The BJP has, however, dismissed Trinamul as a non-factor. “We doubt if Trinamul can open its account. They have no local support. Will they contest the polls by bringing in people from Bengal? People of Tripura know about Trinamul atrocities in Bengal,” BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said.
Along with Rajib, first-time Tripura BJP MLA Ashis Das, 42, who also joined Trinamul during Abhishek’s Sunday rally in Agartala, told this paper he decided to leave the BJP because it “failed” to implement its pre-poll promises in 2018, Tripura’s prevailing “misrule” and the “sidelining of most” BJP members who worked hard to install the party in power. The Surma MLA of Tripura’s Dhalai district is yet to resign from the BJP. He is expected to get an “important” post in Trinamul, sources said.
Abhishek left for Calcutta around 7.30pm on Sunday and Rajib on Monday. Rajib will be back in Tripura after Kali Puja, sources said.
Trinamul’s state unit continued to tweet important portions of Abhishek’s Sunday speech on Monday too.
