Two days after a major Cabinet re-shuffle in West Bengal, speculation is rife that two senior ministers who were stripped of important portfolios are set to resign from the Government.
Wednesday’s Cabinet reshuffle saw Rabindranath Bhattacharya — the MLA from Singur — being stripped of the agriculture portfolio and put in charge of the low-key statistics and programme implementation department. This was the third time that Bhattacharya’s portfolio has been changed in the last one-and-a-half year.
Septuagenarian Bhattacharya — a highly respected retired school teacher — first won the election in May 2006 when the then Left Front Government was preparing the ground for inviting Tata Motors to set up a plant at Singur. His win came at a time when Mamata Banerjee’s popularity was sagging and her party could manage a mere 29 seats.
The soft-spoken Bhattacharya, along with Becharam Manna (another MLA from the Singur region and a minister) gave Trinamool the shot in the arm in the anti-land acquisition stir at Singur.
Political observers said that Banerjee, despite her dissatisfaction with Bhattacharya’s “slow pace of work”, was reluctant to take away his Cabinet berth due to the mass support he enjoyed in Singur.
Rural vote-bank
Shunting out Bhattacharya, ahead of the Panchayat polls (scheduled in West Bengal in May 2013), might come as a setback for Banerjee’s rural vote-bank, especially in Singur — which was instrumental for her rise to power in May 2011.
When contacted , Bhattacharya remained unavailable for comment. However, in an interview to a private television channel, Bhattacharya said: “I have not accepted the new ministry that I have been assigned through a notification. I want to resign.”
Sources at Writer’s Building said that Bhattacharya’s resignation has not been accepted by the Chief Minister. Banerjee is said to have called up the minister to placate him.
The other casualty of the reshuffle is Rabiranjan Chatterjee – MLA from Burdwan (South) – who had defeated CPI(M) politburo member and former commerce and industry minister Nirupam Sen. An academician, Chatterjee is speculated to have been unhappy with stripping of the Technical Education portfolio. He is now left with science & bio-technology departments.
Despite repeated attempts, Chatterjee too did not respond to calls . Sources at Writers’ Building confirmed that Chatterjee has not been attending office since Wednesday.