Trinamool Congress on Monday carried out a major organizational reshuffle in the party and inducted several new faces, including some ministers with a thrust on toning up the party ahead of next year’s crucial panchayat polls.
The restructuring came amidst the ongoing political furor over the arrest of a suspended party leader Partha Chatterjee in a school recruitment scam. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier in the day announced a cabinet reshuffle and said a few leaders occupying ministerial posts will be sent back to the party for organizational work.
“The All India Trinamool Congress under the inspiration and guidance of Hon’ble Chairperson Smt Mamata Banerjee is pleased to announce a few new appointments of District Chairman & District President for West Bengal Trinamool Congress,” the party said in a statement. After Banerjee's announcement Asima Patra, the minister of state with independent charge of the department of planning, statistics, and program monitoring and Saumen Mahapatra, the state irrigation and waterways minister have been assigned organisational responsibilities in their respective districts.
TMC MLAs Tapas Ray and Partha Bhowmick were on the other hand relieved of their responsibilities as presidents of the party's north Kolkata and Dum Dum- Barrackpore zones amid reports that they could find a place in the state ministry, party sources said. The imprint of the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was evident in the reshuffle in which several “non-performers” were axed and some were relieved from organizational duties paving their way for ministerial berths.
The new district committees have been set up with a mix of experienced and young leaders in the party, the sources said. The presidents of several organizational districts, including Coochbehar, Dakshin Dinajpur, Nadia South (Ranaghat), Hooghly-Sreerampore, Jhargram, and Bongaon were changed, while several others such as Kolkata North, Bankura, Uttar Dinajpur, Tamluk and Bongaon will now have new heads, they added.
