Kolkata: Senior TMC leader Saugata Roy Wednesday asserted that all misunderstandings between TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari and the party’s leadership have been cleared through dialogue, and the crisis that arose out of the situation resolved.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor — roped in by the party to boost its poll prospects — on Tuesday night met Adhikari, days after he resigned from the state cabinet, and subsequently claimed that all the issues have been resolved.
Senior party leaders Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandopadhyay, who were deputed by the party to open backchannel talks with Suvendu, were also present at the meeting.
“The crisis is a closed chapter now. Adhikari will remain in the party. There were some misunderstandings, but it has been resolved through dialogue,” Roy told reporters.
The veteran TMC MP exuded confidence that Adhikari along with other leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, will work together to further strengthen the party in the state.
Mocking the opposition, who were “elated” over Adhikari tendering his resignation from the cabinet, Roy said, “We feel bad for them as their wish to create a division in the party remained unfulfilled. The party stands united and will fight the BJP tooth and nail,” he said.
Repeated calls to Adhikari to get his reaction on Tuesday’s meeting went unanswered.
Adhikari, the face of the Nandigram movement that added to the political heft of Mamata Banerjee and catapulted her to power, resigned as minister of transport, irrigation and waterways last week, setting off speculation that he may quit the ruling TMC ahead of the Assembly polls next year.
Sources close to him said that that the legislator was unhappy over organisational changes and the growing clout of Kishor and Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of the chief minister.
The disgruntled MLA, who had aired his grievances against the party’s leadership on occasions, is a member of the powerful Adhikari family of East Midnapore district. His father Sisir Adhikari and younger brother Dibyendu Adhikari are TMC MPs from Tamluk and the Kanthi Lok Sabha constituencies respectively.
He wields influence over at least 40-45 assembly segments in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram, parts of Birbhum — mainly in the Junglemahal region — and areas in minority-dominated Murshidabad.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly are likely to be helo in April-May next year.
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