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Tripura : Infighting in ruling Left |
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With state party conferences scheduled by the end of February, infighting has reared its head in the ruling CPI(M).
Sources said the CPI(M) state conference, scheduled for mid-February, is likely to witness acrimonious scenes as the incumbent secretary, octogenarian Baidyanath Mazumder is determined to call it quits.
“This leaves the field open for a new party secretary. The obvious successor is Bijan Dhar who is already a member of the party central committee,” a source said. But of late, there has been a change in the factional equations in the party secretariat as Chief Minister Manik Sarkar “is showing an increasing confidence in Power Minister Manik Dey, widely respected as an honest and efficient organiser”.
The sources indicated that a “surprise or two” might be in store. Surprises also marked the Khowai divisional committee conference when the state CPI(M) leadership replaced the committee’s longstanding secretary with an inexperienced Biswajit Dutta, despite resentment among a section of the members. The official version about the change in leadership said Samir Deb Sarkar, secretary of the Khowai divisional committee for over 15 years, has resigned on health grounds. But sources said, he had incurred the wrath of the party leadership.
The allegations against him include sabotage in the Pramod Nagar Assembly constituency where CPI(M) veteran Aghore Debbarma had lost against a greenhorn of the INPT. The delegates to the Khowai committee’s conference had resented Dutta’s appointment in Deb Sarkar’s stead. Dutta enjoys the confidence of top-notchers in the state CPI(M).
The state leaders also dropped Romakanta Paul from the reconstituted Khowai committee. Infighting marred proceedings in the Sadar divisional committee meet as well, where delegates criticised the style of functioning of secretary Samir Chakraborty and his brother Prabir, who is the vice-chairman of the Agartala Municipal Council.
However, after a lot of deliberations, Chakraborty managed to retain his post.
Incidentally, the other major Left Front constituent in the state, the RSP is also rent by dissension. The longstanding differences of Food Minister Gopal Das with party MLA Jaygobinda Debroy came to the fore in the just-concluded conference of the party’s south district committee. Debroy, secretary of the district committee for the past decade, lost to Nantu Busan De, a protege of Gopal Das with close rapport with leaders of the CPI(M) in south Tripura. Sources in RSP said that Jaygobinda Debroy had fallen foul of Gopal Das on organisation at issues andpaid the price for it.
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