Mamata Banerjee-Nephew Rift Grows, Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC Caught In Middle

A rising rift between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee has prompted the West Bengal Chief Minister to name a gathering of the occasion’s high leaders on Saturday.

The assembly is ostensibly meant to handle simmering tensions over Abhishek Banerjee’s push to advertise a ‘One Man, One Submit’ coverage within the occasion, resented by a number of the occasion’s older guard, a few of whom maintain a number of posts throughout the ruling institution. 

However many see it as reflective of the rising friction between Ms Banerjee and her more and more bold nephew, who’s successfully the occasion’s second in command. 

Caught within the crossfire is I-PAC, the political consultancy group of Prashant Kishor, which has been working with the Trinamool because the West Bengal elections, with Abhishek Banerjee seen as the principle liaison between the occasion and the savvy political consultants.

On Friday, a public spat erupted between Trinamool chief Chandrima Bhattacharya and I-PAC after she alleged that her social media accounts had been “misused” by Prashant Kishor’s group – a declare that was promptly challenged.

“A Twitter account in my title was created by I-PAC earlier than the election. At this time it posted one thing about ‘one individual one submit’ with out my data. I strongly protest in opposition to it,” Ms Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by information company PTI.

The I-PAC countered, “I-PAC would not deal with any digital properties of @AITCofficial or any of its leaders. Anybody making such declare is both uninformed or is blatantly mendacity. AITC ought to look into if and the way their digital properties and/or that of their leaders are being ‘allegedly (mis)used’.”

A soundbite by Ms Banerjee to journalists on Monday whereas on her strategy to Uttar Pradesh to assist Samajwadi Get together chief Akhilesh Yadav’s marketing campaign additionally fanned buzz a couple of fallout between the Trinamool chief and nephew, who’s spearheading the occasion’s Goa foray.  

Requested if she was going to marketing campaign in Goa, she mentioned “Any person is doing, so I’m not. I’m going to different locations… in larger curiosity”, a curious remark and an much more curious reference to Abhishek Banerjee as “any person”.

An inner squabble over the marketing campaign got here to a head final week when two competing lists of candidates for the upcoming civic polls got here out of the occasion – prompting Mamata Banerjee to take a aspect and again the faction perceived because the outdated guard.

Sources near I-PAC, nevertheless, declare there isn’t a rift with the Chief Minister.