Congress revamps Bengal unit to unite party ahead of polls

In a bid to unite the party in West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who took over the reins of the party after the death of Somen Mitra, has tried to rope in leaders from different factions.

With the Assembly elections in West Bengal less than six months away, the Congress has restructured the party’s state unit by appointing 11 vice-presidents, 14 general secretaries apart from constituting committees for coordination, election campaign, manifesto among others. The party has also constituted 68-member state executive committee that includes 13 permanent invitees.

In a bid to unite the party in West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who took over the reins of the party after the death of Somen Mitra, has tried to rope in leaders from different factions. Leaders such as Amitabha Chakraborti, Sardar Amjad Ali, Badal Bhattacharya and Santosh Pathak have found a place in the restructured West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC).

While, Amitabha Chakraborti has been made convener of the manifesto committee and will be working closely with Abdul Mannan, the chairman of the committee; Amjad Ali has been made one of the 11 new vice-presidents. Badal Bhattacharya has been made convener of the coordination committee, which will be led by MP Pradip Bhattacharya. Santosh Pathak has been appointed the new treasurer.

Abhijeet Mukherjee, former MP and son of Pranab Mukherjee, will head the campaign committee with Tulsi Mukherjee as its convener.
Soumya Aich Roy has been made chairman of the outreach and communication committee with Niloy Pramanik as its convener.

Notably, Somen Mitra’s son, Rohan, has also been elevated to the post of general secretary. He is among the 14 new general secretaries that includes youth leaders like Ritzu Ghoshal and Asutosh Chatterjee. In 2018, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s nominee, Shadab Khan, had defeated Rohan Mitra in the election to the post of the state youth wing chief. Senior leader from north Bengal, Deba Prasad Roy, who was sidelined last time, has been made vice-president and included in several committees.

“If all the camps are united and given equal importance, then it will be difficult to oppose the decision of the party when it comes to choosing an alliance partner. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, there were differences of opinions among various factions regarding this. With all factions together, there will be hardly any opposition to join hands with the Left Front,” said a Congress leader on the condition of anonymity.

Chowdhury had recently said that the Congress wanted an electoral alliance with the Left Front in West Bengal to fight the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.

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