After BJP’s gains, Mamata’s purge in govt and party

Apart from the purge, sources in the party hinted at another equation emerging —  the Trinamool coming to some kind of an understanding with the Left to keep the BJP out. “We have been asked to go slow against the CPM and target the BJP in areas where it has gained the most votes,” a source said.

A hint of the changing equations came when Mamata gave Left Front chairman Biman Bose an appointment for June 9. This is ostensibly to submit a memorandum on post-poll violence but the meeting is significant because Mamata had so far never bothered even to respond to letters from the Left, let alone agree to meet any of its leaders.

The biggest casualty is Subhendu Adhikari, once her most trusted aide in Nandigram and Junglemahal, and now removed as the head of the party’s youth wing. In East Midnapore’s Kanthi and Tamluk, the BJP got almost 1 lakh votes. In three of five constituencies of Junglemehal, the BJP got more than 2 lakh votes each.

“I was the president of the youth wing when the party was weak, and now the party has become strong. I don’t know why I am not in that position anymore. I was not part of the discussion,” Adhikari told The Indian Express.

Moloy Ghatak has resigned as agriculture minister after the party lost Asansol to the BJP’s Babul Supriyo. Ghatak could not be contacted.

Minster Bratya Bose has been downgraded from education to tourism after the BJP bagged 2.55 lakh votes in Dum Dum, from where Bose is an MLA. Sabitri Mitra was stripped of her portfolio of women and child welfare and also removed as Malda district unit president as both seats in Malda were won by the Congress. Krishnendu Roy Choudhury, another minister from Malda, was transferred from tourism to food processing. And Subrata Saha was shunted out of PWD after the party slipped to third place in Jangipur constituency, where he was in charge.

“Our candidate led in my assembly segment, Sagardighi, while it did poorly in the other six segments. And I had to pay for this,” Saha said, while Sabitri blamed Krishnendu for damaging her support base.

The district chiefs removed are of Jalpaiguri, Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24-Parganas, where the BJP gained. In Darjeeling, where the BJP routed star candidate Bhaichung Bhutia, in-charge Gautam Deb reportedly offered to quit but Mamata spared him.

“Party workers were guilty of overconfidence and self-satisfaction, which caused a dent in our support base in the elections. It was one of our toughest elections; we never realised that in Bengal there could be any challenge to the Trinamool Congress,” said Subrata Bakshi, the party’s state president, while addressing a Trinamool national council meeting.  And secretary general Partha Chatterjee told party members, “Retain the segments where the party led and regain those surrendered. Increase your connect to the people.”

The BJP led 21 assembly segments and was second in 48. Mamata is said to have asked the MLAs of all these constituencies to regain their support base before the 2016 assembly elections.