Trinamool Congress to go for organisational polls in next 2 months

Kolkata: At a time when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is going for her overzealous plan to reach beyond the boundaries of the state, Trinamool Congress for the first time since its inception in 1998 has decided to go for an organisational election - a move indicative enough that the party is trying to put up democratic face.

Recently the party general secretary Partha Chatterjee said that the party's organisational polls will be conducted soon. This will be for the first time that the party would be selecting the members of the National Working Committee selected by the members of the party. The party sources indicated that there will be a huge reshuffle in the party hierarchy in the next three months.

"The delegates and voters' list will be finalised by the end of January and the name of the poll observer will be announced. The entire process of the election and the formation of the new committee will be completed by March 31. A notification on the organisational polls will be issued soon," a senior party leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Political experts are of the opinion that Trinamool Congress established by Mamata Banerjee who owned her political lineage from Congress prior to the forming had its ideological roots on her genetic acceptability. "She was successful in creating an image that has been wholeheartedly accepted by the people of West Bengal but when she is trying to reach out to the people of the nation - the party image will become more important than her personal charisma and this is perhaps why Trinamool Congress is trying to give the party a democratic face," a senior political expert said.

In the last few months Trinamool Congress after coming to power for the third time has tried to use the political vacuum created by Congress. The party has worked extensively not only to expand its base in the North-Eastern states but also in the Western tip of the country like Goa.

She has already roped in Sushmita Dev, the former Congress MP and ironically a close aide of Rahul, to enlarge TMC's footprints in Assam and other northeastern states. So far Goa is concerned TMC is likely to use it as a launching pad in national politics and brand itself as a vibrant opposition against the BJP, expediting induction-spree across the country.

In Goa, where the TMC is eyeing to take a frog jump in national politics, it has inducted many influential faces including former CM Luizinho Fuleiro, tennis player Leander Peas, actor Nafisa Ali and Mirinalini Deshprabhu.

The Mamata Banerjee-led party also plans to traverse through all the prominent states of north India. "The TMC has a brain behind it to make it a national party with national and secular outlook and acts," said a TMC leader.

In its south India move, the TMC's first focus is on Karnataka and efforts are on to induct some Congress leaders. "There is also a plan to take the TMC into the next Assembly polls due in 2023 in the state. So, the party is zeroing on an influential face," reliable source said.

Now some questions automatically arise. The first is what is going to be new in the organisational polls that will make Trinamool Congress more acceptable at the national level.

"Previously Trinamool Congress made some experiments to move beyond the state but that was not successful but now they are making serious attempts to take advantage of the political situation. In that case if the leaders from outside the state are not allowed to enter into the decision-making body and responsible posts, then the party is sure to lose its steam on the national platform. So, the party is bringing in major changes in the constitution to include the national leaders into the party-fold," a senior political scientist said.

"The relevance of Mamata Banerjee or her family will never lose its relevance in the family but the party is now going for a makeover to get a democratic look so that it becomes acceptable to the people of the country," he added.