Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or her nephew Abhishek Banerjee who is also the Trinamool Congress general secretary may not attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Patna early next month sources in TMC say. Instead, the TMC leadership may send “every important leader to Patna.”
“There is difference of opinion within the party on whether Mamata Banerjee or Abhishek Banerjee should attend Rahul ji’s rally, while some leaders want at least Abhishek to attend the rally some others say that the party should send a top functionary if at all they have some other preoccupations,” a senior TMC leader said without divulging more details.
“It may be that the Chief Minister sends Abhishek or decides to send a very senior leader — maybe Derek O’Brien or for that Firhad Hakim or anyone else — or even it may be that she in the last moment decides to go herself but at present it seems that she is not very keen to attend the rally,” the leader said.
The leader dismissed speculations that the Chief Minister’s decision to skip the rally has anything to do with TMC’s declared ambition to see her in a greater role in the national scene. Incidentally the TMC leaders like Kunal Ghosh have often gone on record projecting the Banerjee as a big player in the national politics in times to come.
“There is no need to see much into a small decision and both the TMC and the Congress are the components of the Indian National Democratic and Inclusive Alliance and there is no reason why their leaders should not be seen together being a seasoned politician the Chief Minister has her own reasons for doing or not doing something and she may have some other engagements on the other hand Abhishek is busy with intra party organisational meetings that he had been conducting these days to spruce up the organisation,” the leader said.
Another TMC leader and a former State minister said “it is not a sin either for Rahul Gandhi whose Bihar yatra has recently brought him to the centre stage of Opposition politics or Mamata Banerjee to aspire for some bigger roles in future… but that aspiration does not impede joint holding of rallies at this point in time … it is a time when the entire opposition is working on a single agenda.”
Though Gandhi and Banerjee had witnessed ups and downs in their relationships the Congress high command in the past one year has worked towards improving the chemistry between the two parties which was proved by Akbar Road removing Adhir Chowdhury --- a staunch critic of Banerjee --- as the PCC president and bringing in his place Subhankar Sarkar a pro-Mamata face.