TASK CUT OUT - Bypoll: Didi warns against complacency

KOLKATA: Singling out BJP for her sharpest attack, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday chose to steer her party to poll mode -ahead of the November19 by-elections. She is planning a three-pronged attack -at the state level, Parliament and the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.
She reportedly cautioned senior party leaders against “overconfidence“ in a closed-do or meeting at her Kalighat residence.“Elections are knocking at the door. Some wrongly believe we have already won. But a battle has to be fought first.Even though it is a by-election, we can't afford to be complacent. It is still a battle,“ she said.
Mamata entrusted party leaders Subhendu Adhikari, Rabindranath Ghosh and Aroop Biswas and to lead Tamluk, Cooch Behar and Moteshwar Lok Sabha by-elections. She also formed a `Pustika committee', which will be convened by MP Saugata Roy . Manas Bhuiyan, Dinesh Trivedi, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy , Nirbed Roy, Sultan Ahmed and Moloy Ghatak have been assigned the task to publish books, articulating the alleged attempts to instigate communal strife in Bengal, the economic scenario and Centre's apathy and Singur agitation.
“From November 3 to 11, the party will launch a week-long campaign against the divisive forces,“ said a party leader present at the meeting.
Mamata also assigned MPs Sudip Bandopadhyay and Sultan Ahmed with two critical tasks. She asked Bandyopadhyay to come out strongly against the Centre and mentioned Goa Brics summit. Mamata strictly follows a party position that condemns commenting on the party's external affairs. By choosing to make an exception, she sent out a strong signal.
Moreover, she asked Ahmed to explore possibilities to contest or forge electoral alliances in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh with an aim to defeat BJP .