Kolkata, November 03: “Mamata Banerjee for Prime Minister.” This clamour was raised by the Trinamool Congress leadership of States at a special session here on Wednesday where she was unanimously re-elected party chairperson.
“Mamata Banerjee has been elected unopposed,” announced Union Minister of State for Shipping and party general secretary Mukul Roy, who was the returning officer. Leaders from Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and the Andaman and Nicobar, besides West Bengal, were present.
The West Bengal Chief Minister raised the pitch for “strengthening the organisational structure” and achieving the status of “a national party.”
“We keep being referred to as a regional party. What is so difficult about being a national party? You need only to be recognised (as a State party) in four States.” She recounted instances of the Trinamool having been “derided by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress for being a regional party.”
Ms. Banerjee warned her party supporters against “individuals” who were maligning the Trinamool’s name by collecting funds from people in its name and pocketing it themselves. She asked her supporters to beware of these “plants of the CPI(M).”
Asking Trinamool workers to stay away from “syndicating and promoting (being a part of syndicates engaged in promoting real estate),” she warned that anyone associated with such activities would not be allowed to get elected to any party post.
There was also a word of caution for ministers in her government against accepting money. “You should work for the welfare of the people, Ms. Banerjee said.
Even as Ms. Banerjee advised her party workers and leaders to eschew corruption “because we have come to power, not to relish it but to sacrifice,” Ms. Banerjee also regretted that the party was being called “an undisciplined organisation.”
“Those who say we are undisciplined do not know the meaning of the word.”
Claiming that the Trinamool had come to the helm of affairs of West Bengal at a time when things were in a very bad shape, Ms. Banerjee said: “The situation of this government was such that even if it was auctioned off, none other than us would have bought it.”
–Agencies