Kolkata, May 25 -- Amid a surge in resignations of councillors after the Assembly poll debacle, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged party councillors to stay united as resignations unsettled several civic bodies run by the party.
To stand by party leaders and workers allegedly attacked in post-poll violence, Banerjee is likely to hit the streets after Eid.
In a bid to rally her grassroots network, Banerjee held a meeting with civic representatives from North Dum Dum, South Dum Dum, Baranagar and Bidhannagar at her Kalighat residence and conveyed a message of resilience and organisational discipline.
According to TMC sources, Banerjee told those present at the meeting that party workers must stand together in difficult times. Those unwilling to continue with the organisation were free to take their own decisions, she said. The TMC chief also formed a five-member committee to provide legal assistance to party workers. Senior leaders, including Moloy Ghatak and Chandrima Bhattacharya, are part of the panel, party leaders reportedly said. The meeting came a day after senior TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar resigned as president of the Barasat organisational district. The party subsequently appointed former MLA Tapas Chatterjee to the post. But beyond organisational reshuffles, the bigger challenge appears to lie in Bengal's civic bodies, once among TMC's strongest power centres.
Across the state, municipal structures that had served as the party's local administrative backbone are showing signs of strain.
Councillors in several municipalities have resigned in groups, while many elected representatives have reportedly stopped attending offices, causing concerns over civic service delivery.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.