West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee will head for Tripura today to bolster the party's organisational setup in the north-eastern state.
After returning to power in West Bengal for the third consecutive term with a sweeping victory in the recent assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is now focusing on Tripura where assembly polls are due in 2023.
Last week, seven senior Congress leaders in Tripura, including former minister Prakash Chandra Das, former MLA Subal Bhowmik, All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Panna Deb and Congress minority leader Md. Idris Miah joined the TMC.
Sudip Banerjee, TMC MP and floor leader of the party in the Lok Sabha said, "Wherever the TMC has landed, other political parties have been reduced to zero. The same would happen in Tripura."
"The TMC has no existence outside Bengal. Let the party set up its base in Tripura first. They can then think of reducing other parties to zero," said Dilip Ghosh, BJP president in West Bengal.
A team of senior TMC leaders, including ministers Bratya Basu and Moloy Ghatak, left for Tripura early Monday morning.
The TMC alleged that party posters in Agartala were torn ahead of Banerjee's visit.
A TMC leader said, "Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to hold some meetings with TMC leaders in the state to boost the party's organisational set up. He would also offer puja at Tripureswari temple. He would also meet media persons later during the day."
