Their posters and banners swear unflinching loyalty to ‘Dada’ and gush about their ‘unstoppable mass leader’. There is no overt electoral messaging, but given the ‘leader’ in question, the political undertones are hard to miss.
‘Dada’ is none other than disgruntled Trinamool Congress (TMC) veteran Suvendu Adhikari, the once-trusted Mamata Banerjee hand whose long-speculated defection from the party is now being seen as an imminent event. Over the past few days, TMC leaders have been holding inconclusive peace talks with Adhikari, whose differences with Mamata’s nephew and heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee are well known. Adhikari, 49, holds the transport portfolio in the Mamata government, but since 2019, he has been gradually stripped of key responsibilities in the TMC—allegedly at the behest of Abhishek and, to Adhikari’s chagrin, without any intervention from Mamata.
Adhikari rose to prominence with the 2007 Nandigram agitation that helped the TMC breach Left bastions.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, he defeated CPI(M) heavyweight Lakshman Seth from the Tamluk seat. Soon, he emerged as a popular TMC leader, with a support base spread over East Midnapore and six other districts of Bengal.
This story is from the December 07, 2020 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 07, 2020 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Macallan M 2023 debuts in India
Standing as a pinnacle of exclusivity, The Macallan M 2023 graces the shores of India with limited 10 handpicked bottles for whisky aficionados
Give it up for the science bros
They've got brains, brawn and billions in the bank. A new breed of wellness guru is doing for men what Gwyneth Paltrow did for women.
LIVING BY THE RULES
Chetan Bhagat returns to non-fiction with his new book-11 Rules for Life
The Mysterious City
Anuradha Kumar's The Kidnapping of Mark Twain paints an intriguing portrait of Bombay around the time of the American writer's visit
GOWDA KNOWS
Hot Stage, the third book in Anita Nair's Inspector Gowda mystery series, is here
WITH OUR OWN DESI SLEUTHS
Indian detective fiction gets its due in this massive, two-volume compilation from Hachette
PRIVATE PARADISE
Your home may well be your haven, but here are easy ways to make it your very own spa-dom.
Subversive IN SUBURBIA
A MONTH-LONG SHOW AT ART AND CHARLIE, MUMBAI, SHOWCASING THE WORKS OF POONAM JAIN AND YOGESH BARVE POSES SEVERAL QUESTIONS TO THE VIEWER
THE HOME THAT WAS
A soon-to-launch gallery at the Partition Museum in Delhi will showcase artefacts capturing 'The Lost Homeland of Sindh'
The Enchanted Forest
A perfect refuge for city-weary folk, Six Senses Vana, the global brand's first dedicated wellness retreat in India, is where you go to retrieve yourself: Rest, reset and rejuvenate, the blockbuster RRR of the wellness universe.