Factional feuds seem to be the order of
the day for the ruling Trinamool Congress. After Friday’s incident in
Malda where a senior leader was beaten up by party workers who was
opposed to her appointment as district chief, it was Darjeeling's turn
today to bear witness to resentment following the nomination of a party
member to a top post.
A section of the hill TMC is not happy
with the appointment of Purnima Rai as the TMC Darjeeling district
(Hills) women's wing president. They have decided to write to the party
high command in Kolkata airing their views on the matter.
A group of about 35 hill TMC women’s
members today held a meeting here at the Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan
hall to take stock of the situation and decide on the president of their
choice. Instead of Rai, they want Shardha Subba to be made the
president.
“We will write to our high command about
our decision on who should be the women’s unit president. We feel that
Rai, who joined the party only recently, is not fit to hold such a high
post. She does not have the acumen to run a party and due to this we
will not be able to function under her," said Shika Chhetri, a district
committee member.
Proposing Subba's name instead, she
said, "We all believe Subba is more capable. Moreover, she has been with
the party since the beginning and is the right person to lead us."
On Friday, the TMC hill unit held a
meeting to choose and distribute portfolios as part of an exercise to
revamp the party in the region following the Lok Sabha election. During
the meeting, Subba was elected as the hill TMC general secretary along
with NB Khawas, Binny Sharma and Chewang Bhutia.
But the hill TMC leadership is not taking the opposition lightly and has warned of strict action against the dissenters.
“The revamping of the party was
undertaken to make it stronger in the hills ahead of the Assembly
elections in 2016. Portfolios have already been chosen and they are the
district committee’s decision. Going against the decision means the
dissenters are going against the party. We will not tolerate such
indiscipline and will take strong action against the detractors,” said
hill TMC president Rajen Mukhia when asked for his comments on the
issue.(EOIC)