Trinamool draws up list of leaders for distribution of party symbols to candidates

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) has drawn up a list of its heavyweight leaders who would likely be given the charge of distributing party symbols to its candidates contesting the upcoming panchayat elections.

Sources said that such a move is learnt to have been taken to prevent any internal feuds over the choice of candidates. Generally, the party symbols used to be distributed by the district president or chairmen but the party has decided to deviate from its standard procedure.

Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary, has already been issuing stern warnings to party workers during the Nabajowar campaign. He has clarified that no aberration from party discipline will be tolerated and that the candidate chosen by the party will be the final. Under the ‘Gram Banglar Motamot’ initiative, he has also been taking opinions from people regarding who they want to see as a candidate so that the person will work for them for the next five years. Abhishek has warned that if any party worker decided to contest as an independent candidate, the doors of the party will be shut to him/her.

It is learnt that several names have reached the party as choices of candidates. To avoid any factional clashes, the party has decided that it would field its heavyweight leaders who are to distribute the party symbols. As part of this schedule, Firhad Hakim has been given the charge of Birbhum, Malda and Murshidabad. Shantanu Sen will be responsible for the Hooghly district.

For South 24-Parganas, Snehashish Chakraborty has been selected. For Cooch Behar, Rajib Banerjee will be distributing party symbols to the candidates. Jayprakash Majumdar will be responsible for distribution in Jhargram, former MLA Sameer Chakraborty for Bankura and Subhashish Ckaraborty for North 24-Parganas. Tapas Roy will be at the helm of distribution in Jalpaiguri while Kunal Ghosh will be responsible for Midnapore. It is learnt that such a measure was also taken by TMC during the time of the last municipal elections.