Gram Panchayats: ‘TMC to evaluate performance in every three months’

Kolkata: Ahead of the Panchayat elections in the state, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has claimed that the party is keeping a strict vigil on Panchayat leaders and will carry out an assessment and evaluation of the work done in Gram Panchayats every three months in days to come.

Abhishek, who is on a 60-day campaign as part of Trinamool-e Nabajowar initiative, is visiting the Panchayat areas in the state.

After having completed the North Bengal region, he is presently campaigning in Murshidabad, a district where the TMC suffered a blow in the last by-elections by losing the Sagardighi seat to Congress.

Sources said that the party did an autopsy of the poll result and concluded that the reason for the defeat, to an extent, is internal conflicts arising out of self-interests.

To prevent a repeat of such a situation in the upcoming Panchayat poll, Abhishek, during his campaigns, has clarified that candidates will be selected by the party based on people’s opinions, thus ruling out any scope of competition among panchayat-level leaders which can pave the way for an internal feud.

Banerjee has clarified that the party will only entertain leaders who are ready to show exceptional performance in the work assigned to them. He clarified that the party does not need leaders who only remain in the party for cynical gains.

During his public meeting in Murshidabad, Abhishek warned: “Every leader is under strict observation of the party. In the days to come, the party will evaluate all Gram Panchayats every three months. In the last six months, I have personally called the chiefs of four panchayats asking for their resignations. If a person is sitting in the position of a Panchayat chief and fails to work for the people then he / she has no right to remain in that position.”

He added: “Complaints have reached the party that some of the Panchayat Pradhans concerned have lost all communication with the people. Voters do not get to find them in times of need. People ring them up without any response and even after waiting outside their houses for hours, these Panchayat Pradhans do not care to meet the people. There is no place for such people in the party. This position should be reserved for leaders who want to work for the people and not misuse

their position”.