oppn parties Internal Tiff In TMC: Firhad Hakim On The Backfoot

News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
Devendra Fadnavis to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra after Eknath Shinde agrees to join the government as deputy CM
oppn parties
Internal Tiff In TMC: Firhad Hakim On The Backfoot

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2024-09-28 08:33:06

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Internal fissures in the Trinamool Congress in Bengal have now become serious and a matter of police investigation. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee (the defacto number two in the state), has let his office file a police complaint against Kalicharan Bandhopadhyay, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of senior party leader and mayor of Kolkata, Firhad Hakim.  Hakim was once very close to the chief minister and considered her right-hand man. The charges against the OSD are serious - he is accused of having extorted huge sums of money from businessmen and government officials using Abhishek's name. Obviously, such a police complaint could not have been filed without keeping the chief minister in the loop and by that token, it has her approval.

But the mayor is not convinced. He has stood by his OSD and has held numerous marathon meetings with senior officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). There was a rumour in the corridors of the KMC that Bandhopadhyay would be transferred following the allegations against him. But after the meetings, Firhad Hakim chose to back his OSD and told reporters that the allegations were without any basis and no such complaints against Bandhopadhyay had been brought to his notice.

What this obviously means is a direct fight between the offices of two extremely important members of the TMC. If the party does not intervene to sort the matter, it can snowball into a major confrontation. As it is, there were persistent rumours in political circles for the last more than 6 months that Firhad Hakim had lost the confidence of the powers-that-be in the party. This case has complicated matters further.

Mamata Banerjee is known to diplomatically settle internal tiffs in the party. But this time, even her diplomacy is not likely to work because the charges are serious and would not have been levelled by Abhishek Banerjee's office without substantial proof. On the other hand, Hakim is certain that his OSD is not guilty. The climax to this feud is going to be interesting.