It is not every day you see this kind of cross-aisle interaction in the state, and it puts a fine point on the Trinamool Congress’s unity. For Dastidar, who has had a very public parting of ways with her own leadership in the last few days, being in the room with the CM was a statement in itself.
Why the attendance matters now
The when and where of it makes the point. Dastidar has been in the eye of the storm at TMC since she was done as Lok Sabha chief whip and left an organisational post. To have her at a government review is seen as a mix of working with the system and a sign of some political pressure.
Officials at the Kalyani venue in Nadia will tell you there were also two TMC lawmakers from North 24 Parganas in the mix. Dastidar for her part says it was no big deal – an administrative programme, open to anyone, and well above the politics of it all.
Adhikari’s open-door pitch and opposition optics
This is what Adhikari has been about since he took the top job. In the Assembly, he made it clear that he would be having opposition faces in his meetings to get a feel for what is happening on the ground. The gathering on Tuesday was in keeping with that, with his own MLA, Sajal Ghosh, putting in a word for the inclusive approach.
The government is for everyone, he put it, and a democracy has to make room for the other side. People in the know say the invites were sent out in line with the state’s policy to bring in public representatives from across the aisle.
The backstory: dissent and resignations inside TMC
All of this is against a backdrop of a ruling party that is still stinging from a lacklustre showing in the Assembly polls. You have your share of reports on cadres and some senior figures not on the same page, and those in the TMC won’t deny the turbulence.
Dastidar’s row with the party has been making headlines of late. When Kalyan Banerjee was put in as the new chief whip, she let her feelings be known on social media: ‘Acquainted since ’76, the journey began in ’84. Today, I have been rewarded for four decades of loyalty.’
Then on 24th May, she put in her papers as district president for Barasat. She had a problem with the party’s use of the I-PAC, saying in her resignation that they had made a ‘havoc’ of things. Her message to Mamata Banerjee was to have more faith in the old guard than in some outside agency.
What Dastidar claims is at stake
She put it in writing to TMC’s Subrata Bakshi: the party would be better for it if it relied on the workers who have put in the time. ‘Fly-by-night agencies’ are no way to do hard work, she said.
She also didn’t mince words on the state of affairs in the state. 'Recent alarming incidents of crime and corruption in West Bengal have naturally raised questions and anxieties in the minds of the general public,’ she wrote, and called for some decorum and accountability.
A meeting with outsized political echoes
On the surface, the Kalyani affair was just business as usual. But with the people in the room, it carried some heft. It was a way for the government to show it was open to the opposition. For the TMC, it was a little harder to swallow, to have its own leaders on that stage while there is so much churning within.
There has been some talk in certain circles ever since she was given central security. Now, with her at the CM’s meeting, you can add to that.
What to watch next
If you ask a watcher of the scene, the story isn’t in one or two meetings but in where this is heading. Do it enough times and you might see some new alignments form that don’t fit the old party moulds.
Keep an eye on these for the time being:
– If we see more TMC types at these kinds of reviews
– The way the TMC handles its own in the districts
– Any overtures from the state to the opposition
– What comes back from the core of Mamata Banerjee’s camp
Both will have you believe it is all in the name of good governance. Whether it is just that, or a turning point in the state’s politics, is something we will find out after this little display of access and accommodation.
