West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee is surrounded on three fronts these days. She is already facing attacks from opposition parties on the political level in the case of alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital. Now she is surrounded on the administrative and judicial front in this case as well. On Tuesday itself, the Supreme Court has reprimanded the Mamata government for the evasiveness in this case and expressed deep displeasure. Now Mamata is facing crisis on the domestic front as well.
Media reports have said that Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, party general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is number two in the party, is keeping himself away from party programs these days, especially Mamata Banerjee’s protests and marches on the Kolkata incident. It is being said that Abhishek is unhappy with the way the Kolkata incident was handled.
It is being said that Abhishek Banerjee has also distanced himself from the party’s media management for the last few days. Meanwhile, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday formed a new four-member committee to strengthen the party’s connectivity with the media and to monitor the media. It is a big thing that during the Lok Sabha elections, Abhishek Banerjee was in charge of the party’s election campaign. In those elections, the party performed well and won 29 out of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Even during the budget session of Parliament, Abhishek was seen adopting an aggressive stance in the Lok Sabha, but ever since the uproar over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital began, he has maintained silence. He broke his silence only once, when a gang of goons vandalised RG Kar Hospital during the women’s ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest on August 14-15.
He then posted on Twitter: “The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar has crossed all acceptable limits. As a public representative I have spoken to @CPKolkata, urging them to ensure that everyone responsible for the violence is identified, held accountable and made to face the law within the next 24 hours, regardless of their political affiliation.” He also wrote that the demands of the protesting doctors are fair and just and are necessary and they should expect the government to do so. Their safety and security must be given priority.
Abhishek Banerjee’s comment was seen as a criticism of the way the state government and the police force handled the matter. After Abhishek Banerjee, another TMC MP Shukhendu Shekhar Roy also expressed similar displeasure with the police. After this, Kolkata Police has issued a summon to him. There is already a deadlock in the party regarding Abhishek Banerjee. While Mamata Banerjee’s old colleagues are considered old guards, Abhishek Banerjee is considered a young Turk and he has been working on promoting youth in the party, while the old veterans of the party do not want to give up their hold on the party. Mamata is already aware of this factionalism but she had managed it in the elections.