In tough message, Cong makes Adhir Chowdhury PCC chief

KOLKATA: The Congress high command on Monday made junior railway minister and Mamata-baiter Adhir Chowdhury the West Bengal Pradesh Congress president, sending out a clear signal that the party will take Trinamool head-on in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

An adept organizer, Adhir knows he has a tough challenge — he has to defend his fort in Behrampore, which is no longer as safe as it was, and re-energize the party that is now on life support in south Bengal. "I am yet to get the papers from AICC. It is going to be a difficult task. Time is too short. Let us see. Every Congressman has to work to save the party in Bengal," Adhir said on Monday.

He replaces the party's moderate face, Pradip Bhattacharya. Known for his loyalty to the high command, Bhattacharya led the state Congress when it was an alliance partner of the Trinamool-led government in Bengal, and also when the party suffered heavy erosion with many prominent Congress leaders joining Trinamool after Mamata dumped the UPA government in September 2012.

In the last six months, about a dozen civic bodies in districts like Birbhum, Nadia, North 24-Parganas, which were held by Congress, have been taken over by Trinamool. As many six Congress MLAs have dumped the party to join Mamata's ranks.

Bhattacharya doesn't mind making way for young blood. "Requirements change with time. Adhir Chowdhury can be more aggressive in countering Trinamool. I may have some limitations. But Adhir being young and aggre-ssive may be able to enthuse workers. I will cooperate with him in every possible way," the outgoing PCC president said. Bhattacharya clarified that Congress observer to Bengal, C P Joshi, had sounded him out a few days ago.

Adhir Chowdhury's nomination as PCC president is an indication of the party high command's stance towards Trinamool. Breaking away from the past, when Congress president Sonia Gandhi went all the way to tie up with Trinamool and decimate the Left in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi wants Congress to chart out an independent course in Bengal. Putting Adhir at the helm in Bengal is likely to seal any effort at reaching an understanding, if not an alliance, with Trinamool for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The maverick Congress leader, who was arrested during both the Left Front and Trinamool regimes, is likely to blunt the Trinamool's allegation of a tacit understanding between Congress and the Left. Congress organizers believe that Adhir's taking over the reins will help check the erosion in Congress and encourage supporters to assert their identity instead of buckling under Trinamool pressure.

Congress veteran Somen Mitra echoed the sentiments of the party grassroots while welcoming Adhir's nomination as PCC president. "I nominated Adhir Chowdhury for the assembly elections in 1996. Mamata Banerjee (who was with Congress then) had fiercely opposed the decision. Today's decision shows I picked the right person that day. I welcome this decision to appoint Adhir as state Congress president," Mitra said.