Bengal CPI(M) inducts its Siliguri hero Ashok Bhattacharjee in the state secretariat

KOLKATA: The CPI(M) in Bengal reconstituted its state secretariat on Thursday and inducted Ashok Bhattacharjee, its leader from Siliguri and a former state minister. Apart from Bhattacharjee, the party also inducted Ramchandra Dom, former party MP from Bolpur in Birbhum district.

Both Bhattacharjee and Dom were made permanent invitees to the apex body of the CPIM's Bengal unit. The left party also didn’t let former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee quit the secretariat, which also has former state party secretary Biman Bose as a member. The meeting of the two-day CPIM s state committee has begun on Thursday.

Bhattacharjee, former minister for urban development, played a crucial role in last month's civic elections in West Bengal. And it was under Bhattacharjee that the CPIM managed to prevent a Trinamool rout by winning the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) in North Bengal, the most important local body after Kolkata.

But despite the defeat, Trinamool Congress had contested for the mayor and chairman’s post of SMC, but lost to the CPI(M). The state leadership, in turn, recognized Bhattacharjee's contribution by awarding him a permanent berth in the party's secretariat which takes all decisions regarding West Bengal.

The SMC is the only municipal corporation in West Bengal which is being run by the CPIM.

Apart from restructuring the secretariat, the party has also decided to set up a separate organisation for agricultural labourers which will be formed before the CPIM's plenum sometime in December.

By setting up a separate wing for agricultural workers and labourers, the CPIM is planning to strengthen its base on the peasants' front, which had taken a beating, especially after Mamata Banerjee became the chief minister of Bengal.