Kolkata: The people in certain pockets of south Kolkata, especially around Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in the Kalighat area, were greeted with ‘mysterious’ posters and hoardings on Wednesday August 17 morning.
The posters and hoardings carrying only the picture of Abhishek Banerjee, the CM’s nephew and Trinamool Congress’ national general secretary, claimed that the party will emerge with a new look just as people want within the next six months.
Surprisingly, the posters did not carry the picture of Mamata Banerjee, a phenomenon unheard of since the inception of Trinamool in 1998.
While the posters were removed soon, by then speculations started doing the rounds as to whether the Trinamool in its ‘new look’ will have Abhishek Banerjee at the helm of affairs, replacing Mamata Banerjee.
Trying to downplay the incident, Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh said, “It is quite possible that some party followers may have put up such posters and hoardings based on some recent comments by Abhishek Banerjee. There is nothing to speculate about it.
“Mamata Banerjee continues to be the supreme leader of Trinamool Congress, in which Abhishek Banerjee is the general. Trinamool in the new format means spearheading the party in a more disciplined and systematic manner.”
However, opposition leaders in the state have started taking jibes at the development.
The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said that there is no question of a new-look Trinamool emerging in the next six months.
“The rate at which top Trinamool leaders are being put behind bars over their involvement in various scams, the party will cease to exist within the next six months,” Adhikari said.
According to CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, the old-look or new-look Trinamool will always remain inseparable from corruption.
“This is nothing but a teaser of the new drama the party plans to stage to divert attention from the burning issues facing the state,” Chakraborty said.
