In what was promptly interpreted as product of fierce infighting in the ruling Trinamool Congress, an alleged party worker on Sunday slapped MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek in his face even as he was addressing a public rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore about 15 km from Nandigram that incidentally had a few years ago worked as a catapult for the Trinamool supremo’s uproarious ascent to power.
The slaps three in a row by the assailant — who soon turned into a victim of raining blows by the large assemblage — was so hard that it reverberated through the microphone to all parts of the huge ground, locals said adding the man reportedly from a rival group had to be shifted to the Tamluk general hospital with severe injuries.
The man was currently fighting for his life and his identity was yet to be known, police sources said adding about a dozen policemen including the local SDPO were injured when the crowd pounced on them following the attack. The partymen also attacked media and vandalised the local police station.
MP Sisir Adhikary, his son Suvendu also an MP and party strongman who were known for their increasing differences with the party supremo were not present on the dais and could not be contacted for their reactions.
However insiders said, “the attacker had a strong patron otherwise he could neither have got so close to the stage nor dared to attack someone like the Chief Minister’s nephew.”
Suvendu who almost single-handedly managed the Nandigram show for Mamata Banerjee was clearly unhappy with the appointment of Abhishek Banerjee as the Trinamool Yuva chief at a time when the former was already in charge of the Trinamool Youth Congress.
Besides, his father Sisir Adhikary a former Union Minister was unhappy with Banerjee because she had appointed a parallel president for Trinamool’s East Midnapore unit. This, apparently to clip the Adhikarys’ wings.
Very recently Suvendu Adhikary had told a rally that he “could have gone many notches up in the party hierarchy had I compromised with myself respect.” Abhishek considered Trinamool’s own Yuvraj was slapped on a day when another Trinamool leader and a State Minister Sadhan Pandey told the media that one had to suppress one’s good conscience to become the member of the party.
“I have to suppress my good conscience once I have joined my party” he said a day after circuitously told by the Chief Minister that any of the cuff statement that went against party line would not be tolerated.
While there was no comment from the Chief Minister who immediately directed her “traumatised” nephew to retreat to Kolkata senior party leader Partho Chatterjee said, “The attack is the handiwork of some cowards who are jealous of Abhishek Banerjee’s increasing popularity and quick rise as the future leader of the party.” The police would soon get to the bottom of the conspiracy and severely punish the mastermind of the attack he maintained.
State BJP president Rahul Sinha said, “The attack shows the naked factionalism in the Trinamool Congress where everyone is vying for power and pelf” adding the attack was also the result of failing law and order situation in the State.
“If the Chief Minister’s nephew can be attacked like this then where is the security of the common man” he asked. CPI(M) State secretary Biman Bose said “the naked factionalism in a party of lumpens can best be exhibited in this way. This proves that the beginning of the end of Trinamool has started from where it rose.”
PCC president Adhir Chowdhury said that the Chief Minister should try to consider the fact that it was not Abhishek Banerjee but a “bigger leader in the party who had been slapped.”