‘Internal matter,’ says Mamata as slugfest begins in Trinamool over I-PAC

Uncertainty continued over Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) contract with I-PAC, once helmed by Prashant Kishore, with party chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee saying ending her contract with I-PAC was an “internal matter” of the party, a day after her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the organisation was needed in times of changed electioneering.

The issue of ending their contract with the Indian Political Action Committee, or I-PAC, came to the fore after old timers in TMC and senior Cabinet ministers objected to the second list for elections to 108 civic bodies uploaded on the party’s Facebook and Twitter handles, which was apparently not cleared by Banerjee.

The list approved by the chief minister was physically released on Friday evening by TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee and national vice-president Subrata Bakshi. The second one was uploaded almost simultaneously, leading to an unprecedented fiasco.

Amid agitations across Bengal, senior state leaders said Banerjee exercised her powers to stop the infighting between her followers and those who are loyal to Abhishek Banerjee, face of the 24-year-old party’s youth brigade.

Although senior leaders, such as Kolkata mayor and Mamata Banerjee’s close aide Firhad Hakim, alleged that the second list was uploaded by people who were given unauthorized access to passwords to the party’s social media accounts by insiders, the list was not removed till 6 pm on Monday. They indirectly accused I-PAC volunteers for uploading the second list.

Discrepancies in around 150 of 2200 names in the two lists has triggered agitations since Saturday in 19 Bengal districts where elections will be held in two phases in February. At least two TMC district leaders left the party on Monday on not getting nominated while a former municipality chairman declared that he will contest on his own. A fourth leader was suspended on disciplinary ground.

Senior leaders known to be close to the chief minister earlier alleged that the second list was uploaded by employees of Indian Political Action Committee, or I-Pac, the company launched by election strategist Prashant Kishor who is now helping the TMC contest assembly polls in other states, including Goa.

A top I-Pac official denied the allegation while talking to HT on Sunday. “I-Pac is neither involved in selecting candidates for the civic polls nor does it control the TMC’s digital platforms,” he said.

Abhishek Banerjee holds the second position in the party’s hierarchy and is seen as the driving force behind the TMC’s decision to contest polls in other states. It was he who introduced Kishor to the chief minister.

On Sunday, Abhishek Banerjee told a television channel that differences over selection of candidates would be sorted out. In the same breath, the young Lok Sabha MP also said that organizations like I-PAC have become necessary for contesting elections. “Times have changed,” he quipped.

Abhishek Banerjee, who has been projecting young people for more than two years, also pointed out that an age restriction should be imposed for candidature in every election. “Mamata Banerjee can decide the age bar,” he said.

Hired after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, I-PAC helped the TMC bag 213 of 294 seats in the state polls held last year. The BJP ended the race with 77 seats against a target of 200.

TMC old-timers, who alleged in the past that older people were being sidelined in the party at the recommendation of I-PAC, also claimed on condition of anonymity that TMC would sever ties with the company for trying to impose its decisions. Some of them even claimed before a section of the Bengal media that Kishor had sent text messages to the chief minister during the weekend saying he would like to end his contract with TMC and Banerjee replied by thanking him.

Asked about I-PAC, Mamata Banerjee, who left for Uttar Pradesh on Monday to campaign for the Samajwadi Party, said, “Don’t ask me these questions. This is an internal matter of our party.”

“These are baseless speculations. There was no exchange of text messages. I-PAC is actively working with the TMC. Our men are holding meeting with TMC leaders in Goa right now,” a close aide of Kishor told HT on Monday evening.

TMC Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra, who is in charge of the TMC’s election committee in Goa, confirmed this.

“We are working in tandem with I-PAC and we will continue to do so. Misinformation is being fed by a section of the Bengal media,” Moitra told HT from Goa.

TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee announced on Monday that the chief minister has empowered senior ministers and party leaders, including himself and Bakshi, to work as coordinators for every district and sort out the differences. The ministers include Jyotipriya Mallick, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Moloy Ghatak.

“TMC is one party with one flag. Mamata Banerjee’s decisions are final. People must understand that not everybody can be nominated. Nobody should do anything that creates divisions,” said Chatterjee.