1000 Trinamool workers will cross over to Congress today

KOLKATA: Discontent is beginning to take deep roots in Trinamool ranks. On Wednesday, a little over a thousand disgruntled Trinamool cadre are slated to hop over to the Congress at Ranihati on NH6 in Howrah district. There will be a ceremony, and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Pradip Bhattacharya and party MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would be present to welcome the defecting Trinamool field force.

Indications suggest it’s not going to stop with this. Howrah Youth Congress leader Kaushik Mukherjee feels that over the next fortnight, a few thousand more disgruntled Trinamool workers from Ulberia North and South Assembly constituencies would also join the Congress. Is the All India Trinamool Congress losing sleep over such developments? Well, not yet.

A senior minister in Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet told ET: “Yes, we are in the know of this. Many more will cross over from Trinamool to Congress. We had brought this to the notice of our leader Mamata Banerjee, but she said: ‘Let them go, instead of staying here and fomenting trouble within our ranks.’”

For the moment, Mamata can afford not to be too worried about all this because she enjoys overwhelming people support. Whatever comes Congress’ way is a gain for Sonia Gandhi’s party, no matter even if the number is just a few thousands here and there. As it is, the Congress has been pushed to a corner in West Bengal in Mamata’s regime and the relationship between the two is souring daily. Senior Congress leaders like to believe that the crossover is a mark of protest.

“Many in the Trinamool ranks actually feel that the party should support Pranab Mukherjee as President. But their leader is so adamant about not doing so, they are disgusted,” said one. However, the argument seems to be a bit hollow since ground-level workers of any party would hardly switch allegiance for such macro reasons.

According to Kaushik Mukherjee, Wednesday’s crossover is being orchestrated by Mohit Ghati, an elected Zila Parishad member of Trinamool Congress , who was also instrumental in bringing over a few thousand Trinamool workers to the Congress at a similar function on June 5 at Bagnan in Howrah district.