GROWING NEW ROOTS

ABHISHEK’S YATRA ENCOURAGES THE DEMOCRATIC SELECTION OF PANCHAYAT POLL CANDIDATES

- Romita Datta

For years now, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and chosen heir as party chief, has been trying to fill out his role as future supremo by spearheading a kind of ethical cleansing. Target: the high-handed leaders operating with impunity despite all-pervasive allegations of corruption sullying their name and, in turn, the party's. In this, the 35-year-old crossed swords with TMC veterans, even dared to disagree with Mamata. His crusade continued in the aftermath of the arrests of former education minister Partha Chatterjee in the alleged teachers' recruitment scam in July 2022 and party heavyweight Anubrata Mondal in the cattle smuggling racket in August. A cabinet rejig saw fresh faces, several of them close to Abhishek. As popular outrage mounted over the scams as well as a string of crimes allegedly connected to party workers, Abhishek promised real change, real fast. Posters appeared in Kolkata with the legend: "New Trinamool in six months, like people want." That was seven months ago. Now, with panchayat polls due soon and the 2024 general election a year down the road, Abhishek is imparting some fresh impetus to his drive. And, faced with a worsening public per