Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) There were enough indications in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election that a section among West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress intended to project younger faces among their elected representatives, but Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee was said to have prevailed, and several of her elderly associates made it to the Lok Sabha.
If there were indications then, the list of party probables for the coming Assembly election reflects the beginning of implementing the “new” plan to a large extent.
So intense was the “old vs. new” issue earlier that it had spilled out on the streets, with posters and banners proclaiming national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee as the party “general”.
Thereafter, there was an apparent consensus that while Mamata Banerjee remained the supremo – or the face of the party – the younger Banerjee would lead the party from the front.
The divide largely appeared to be between running state administration and the party organisation.
Since then, much of the organisational thrust has been coming from the 39-year-old Abhishek Banerjee, considered Mamata Banerjee’s heir apparent.
On Tuesday, after Mamata Banerjee and her nephew jointly announced the list, the latter added that of the 291 candidates, four were below the age of 31 (1 per cent), and 38 were between 31 and 40 (13 per cent).
Among the largest group were 88 candidates from the age bracket of 41 to 50 years (31 per cent), and 89 between 51 and 60 (32 per cent).
While the rest constituted 47, between the ages of 61 and 70, making for 17 per cent of the list, 23 from the age-group 71-80 (8 per cent), and only two octogenarians comprised 1 per cent among the names in their list.
Mamata Banerjee was flanked by Abhishek Banerjee, a three-time Lok Sabha MP, on one side, and the 75-year-old state party unit President Subrata Bakshi on the other.
The latter, also a Rajya Sabha MP, sat quietly through the media conference.
The list did reflect a new mix in age, as well as gender, social, and religious combinations, with 52 women, 78 SC, 17 ST, and 47 candidates from among minorities.
In the list announced, 141 were reportedly new faces and 135 among sitting MLAs, while 74 were dropped and 15 shifted from the seat they represent currently.
The remaining three seats among the 294-member Assembly will be contested by the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) in the Darjeeling hills.
Among those dropped from the Trinamool’s list was Manoranjan Byapari, who is counted among the pioneering authors in Bengali Dalit literature despite his humble life. Official documents put his age at about 60, but some earlier reports suggest him to be a septuagenarian.
The author took to social media to air disappointment that he came to know of the development through phone calls, breaking his siesta. However, he added that it was in the air for some time that he would be denied a ticket this time.
“I’m a person who spent his life lying on a railway platform with an empty stomach. Thus, I know the sufferings of the poor. I know how the poor lose what is rightfully theirs,” he wrote on Facebook.
He said that he had entered politics with little and would leave the same way. He also mentioned his work in the region and resistance against crime and smuggling. He wrote of the factionalism he faced as an MLA and indicated a return to his literary life.
However, he emphasised that Mamata Banerjee has built the Trinamool with hard work and through sacrifices, and has every right to decide its candidates. Similar was the case with sitting minister Tajmul Hossain, 68, septuagenarians Rabindra Nath Ghosh, Biplab Roy Chowdhury, and Paresh Pal.
However, some younger names also featured among those who could not make it to the party list.
West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in two phases, on April 23 and 29, with results to be declared on May 4.
–IANS
jb/vd