West Bengal: Is Trinamool Congress distancing itself from Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC team? Here's what CM Mamata Banerjee has to say

Kolkata: At a time when rumors are going round that Trinamool Congress is likely to distance itself from poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s IPAC team, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that it is the party's ‘internal’ matter.

Ahead of leaving for Lucknow, Mamata said that whether TMC will distance itself from IPAC or not is ‘party’s internal matter’ and also that she won’t speak about it in public.

It can be noted that soon after the candidate list for the upcoming civic polls scheduled on February 27 was announced, TMC supporters at different places started agitating after their ‘favorite’ candidates were denied tickets.

Later, after the list announced by party’s secretary general Partha Chatterjee differed from the list uploaded on party’s website, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim claimed that party’s website password was mishandled by someone.

Soon after Hakim’s comment, IPAC officials claimed that they were not ‘responsible’ for making multiple lists and also that the party leaders had finalized the candidate’s list.

Agitation and infighting over the candidature list remained unabated even on Monday as several party cadres were seen leaving the party to contest the polls as an ‘individual’ candidate.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the party cannot ‘please’ everyone.

“All are party workers but the party cannot please everyone. Only one person can get the ticket and not everyone. The list signed by Partha Chatterjee and party’s president Subrata Bakshi is the final list which will not be changed,” said Mamata at Kolkata airport.

Incidentally, without naming anyone, TMC MLA Madan Mitra was heard saying that ‘an agency’ is trying to control all the departments of the state government and is also allegedly trying to draw ‘a rift’ between TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and TMC national secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Mitra even warned people of his constituency in Kamarhati. Which also saw ‘revolt’ of party workers for not getting a ticket to stay ‘aware and alert’ from that agency.

“A pimp has entered TMC. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s intervention is needed to end the chaos amongst the party workers,” claimed Mitra.

However, rubbishing the speculation, Poll strategist Prashant Kishor claimed that he is not ‘aware’ of the development of TMC distancing itself from IPAC.