Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to skip the traditional ‘Bhai Phota’ or ‘Bhai Dooj’ celebration at her Kalighat residence in South Kolkata on Wednesday drew sharp criticism from state Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh, who claimed that she was apprehensive of a poor turnout following the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in the Assembly elections.
The official explanation for cancelling the annual celebration is that Mamata Banerjee wants to register a symbolic protest against the alleged torture, harassment, and indiscriminate arrests of Trinamool Congress workers under the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
However, Ghosh, a former West Bengal BJP president, offered a different interpretation, claiming that the former Chief Minister knew that several of her erstwhile close associates, who regularly visited her residence for the occasion, would stay away this year.
“Earlier, everyone used to flock to her residence on ‘Bhai Phota’, not to receive her elder-sisterly affection but to remain close to the absolute power and authority she enjoyed as Chief Minister. Today, she is out of power. So, there is no ‘Bhai Phota’ celebration. She knows that those who used to visit her residence in previous years will not turn up this time,” Ghosh said.
The current political situation within the Trinamool Congress appears to lend some weight to Ghosh’s observations, with several prominent leaders who were regular visitors to Mamata Banerjee’s residence now aligning themselves with the party’s rebel but majority faction led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata.
Among them are former heavyweight ministers Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas, who were prominent faces at the annual ‘Bhai Phota’ gathering at Kalighat until last year.
Another familiar face at the celebrations, singer-turned-politician and former minister Indranil Sen, is currently in judicial custody following his arrest in connection with an alleged fake UNESCO-tagged Durga Puja pass scam.
Former state minister Sujit Bose is also in judicial custody in connection with his alleged involvement in the multi-crore cash-for-municipalities recruitment scam.
The absence of these leaders and the political realignments following the Assembly election defeat have altered the composition of Mamata Banerjee’s inner circle.
