Adhir out; Somen Mitra appointed PCC chief
Kolkata: In a major development on Friday, Somen Mitra has been appointed as the president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress, replacing Adhir Chowdhury whose term came to an abrupt end. However, Chowdhury will continue to function as the chairman of the campaign committee.
Mitra has been handed over the appointment by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. A press release issued by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and signed by Ashok Gehlot, party's general secretary, reached Bidhan Bhavan on Friday. Pradip Bhattacharya, the party's MP, has been made the chairman of the coordination committee. There are four working presidents, namely — Sankar Malakar, Nepal Mahato, A H Khan Chowdhury and Deepa Das Munshi. Party MP Abhijeet Mukherjee has been made the chairperson manifesto committee while Amitabha Chakraborty and Subhankar Sarkar have been made chairman outreach and communication and convener coordination committee. Santosh Pathak has become the convener of the manifesto committee.
Resuming office, Mitra said his primary duty would be to improve the organisational strength of the party. "Many party leaders and workers have left the party and I would request them to come back to the Congress. Whether they will obey me or not, that's a different thing but I will try at least."
Mitra resigned as the president of WBPCC on March 1, 1998, and joined the Trinamool Congress and became an MP from Diamond Harbour in 2014. Again he resigned from the TMC and rejoined the Congress. He contested in 2016 Assembly election as a candidate of Congress-CPIM alliance and lost.
Asked whether the WBPCC would support Trinamool Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said: "I will have to obey the order of the Congress high command. I am grateful to the AICC for choosing me as the president and I will discharge my duties with utmost sincerity."
Political experts said there was a rumour that Adhir Chowdhury might join the BJP and he had met Yogi Adityanath recently. The AICC would have faced problems in case he plans to join the BJP as it would have to look for an ad hoc president then. To play safe, the AICC made Mitra president of the WBPCC.
Chowdhury's grip over the Congress in Murshidabad is fast slipping. The municipality and Zilla Parishad is now under the control of the Trinamool Congress. Some MLAs have also joined the TMC causing further dent in the party's organisation.
When contacted, Subrata Mukherjee, state minister for Panchayats and Rural Development, said he expects Somen Mitra to work towards the eradication of the BJP from the state. "Just as Mamata Banerjee had thrown the CPI(M) out of Bengal in 2011, Mitra should work to oust the BJP."
