Acknowledging differences between sections of the Trinamool Congress and the Trinamool Yuba, the youth wing of the party managed by her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday gave a stern message that the youth wing is not above the party.
“There will not be two party offices of the Trinamool Congress and the Trinamool Yuba close to one another and they will not organise events on a single day. If someone does not agree they will be thrown out of the party,” Ms. Banerjee said at a meeting comprising senior functionaries of the party.
The differences came to the fore during the recent rural polls triggering large scale intra-party violence.
Reaching out to party veterans, she said many were not given ticket and should be brought back and given due respect.
“I feel proud about the sacrifices made by the old-timers. In some cases, they were denied ticket, despite my instructions to the contrary. This is completely wrong,” Ms. Banerjee said.
In her 40-minute speech at the Netaji Indoor Stadium the Chief Minister reprimanded a few leaders publicly and also touched on the results of the rural polls. She said that party workers in certain areas were complacent, which resulted in poor performance in a few pockets of the State.
“You should all remember that two Ministers have recently resigned for the party’s poor performance in the panchayat poll,” she said referring to the resignations of Tribal Development Minister James Kujur and Backward Class Development Minister Churamani Mahato.
Challenges BJP
She asked functionaries to use the funds collected as subscription for the purpose of the party and not to siphon it off.
“We are not like the BJP that takes out people’s money in the name of demonetisation and uses the cash to win elections,” she said
The Chief Minister also came down heavily on BJP West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, who had recently said his party workers would retaliate against the killings during the rural polls.
“Some are talking about using guns and hurling bombs. They are even talking about finishing us off. I dare them to show their might,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.
