Congress bickers at strategy session

Calcutta, Feb. 8: Two Bengal Congress working presidents were today locked in a running spat in the presence of state party chief Pranab Mukherjee.

The squabble between Pradip Bhattacharya and Subrata Mukherjee centred on the latter’s visit to Mamata Banerjee’s home last week keeping the leadership in the dark.

Congress functionaries were caught by surprise as the two leaders started finger- pointing at the executive body meeting convened to assess the party’s ward-wise strength in 82 election-bound civic bodies before initiating seat-sharing talks with Mamata’s party.

The polls are widely being seen as the semi-final before the 2011 Assembly elections.

In the middle of the deliberations, Pranab asked Subrata to explain his visit to Mamata’s house. Several Congress leaders had called on Pranab earlier to complain about Subrata’s move.

Minutes after Subrata explained that he had gone to discuss joint strategy and campaign for the civic polls, Pradip shot back: “Subrata’s visit has created confusion in the ranks since he had kept us in the dark about it. Had I been told about it, I could have offered him some valuable suggestions on how to go

about working out the joint strategy for the civic polls.”

Subrata, who had earlier claimed that he had sought “Pranabda’s permission” before calling on Mamata, did not mention it today. “He told us he had gone to Mamata’s place as part of a party resolution, adopted at December’s chintan baithak in Nadia, to firm up the alliance with Trinamul for the civic polls,” said a state party general secretary.

After the meeting last week, Mamata had said that Subrata visited her as the Congress’s representative.

A section of the state Congress, however, alleged that a “personal agenda” had prompted Subrata to go to Mamata.

“Pranabda was right in asking Subrata to clarify his stand because we feel he had approached Mamata to pursue his personal agenda,” the general secretary alleged.

According to some leaders, that Pranab is not happy with Subrata’s conduct was evident from the way he reacted when the junior leader arrived at today’s meeting 10 minutes behind schedule.

“Don’t be crazy! You don’t have to take photos of some-body who has come late for such a crucial meeting,” Pranab was heard shouting at photographers.


The Telegraph