Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool MP and party’s national general secretary, will interact with tea workers in Alipurduar, the northern district dotted with tea estates, on January 3 to know their issues and inspect the implementation of the state-run welfare schemes.
Abhishek's visit is being interpreted as the launch of his campaign for the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections from the district that shares borders with Bhutan to the north and Assam to the east.
In a departure from conventional electioneering, this will be the first time Abhishek will not address any public meeting or take out a rally or road show.
Instead, he will directly speak with tea garden workers, holding closed-door discussions rather than delivering speeches from a stage. Political observers see this as a unique initiative designed to establish a direct connect with workers.
Ganga Prasad Sharma, the chairman of the Alipurduar district Trinamool, said: “On January 3, Abhishek Banerjee will come to Jainti tea estate to talk directly with tea garden workers. Representatives from all tea gardens will gather there.”
Abhishek is scheduled to arrive at the Jainti tea estate in the Kumargram block of Alipurduar, where representatives from 63 tea gardens across the district will be present.
“Local Trinamool leaders will not be allowed at the meeting as Abhishek wants to hear directly from the workers without mediation,” said a source.
According to Trinamool insiders, the interaction has been arranged as the party leadership believes that tea garden workers will openly share their issues with him, given his position as the second-most influential leader in Bengal's ruling party.
During the interaction, Abhishek is expected to outline various welfare schemes introduced by the state government for the tea workers and their families and will also ask them about the implementation of such schemes in tea estates.
He is reportedly aware of widespread dissatisfaction among tea workers.
“There are many issues which the workers are likely to raise during the talks. For years, the tea workers have alleged that their core problems remain unresolved. They complain about non-payment of wages, provident fund arrears, and other statutory benefits. They have demanded that the state government exert pressure on tea garden managements to clear pending dues. In at least 25 tea estates in the district, wage-related problems continue to persist, leading to growing resentment among the workers,” the source added.
Electorally, the region has seen significant shifts. In 2019, the BJP won the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 2.5 lakh votes. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP swept all five Assembly seats in the district. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP retained the seat, but the margin narrowed to 76,000 votes.
However, Trinamool managed to wrest the Madarihat Assembly seat in the district in 2024.
In Alipurduar, the tea population plays a decisive role in the electoral outcome in four of the five Assembly seats of the district. Similarly, in the neighbouring Jalpaiguri district, three of the seven Assembly seats are influenced by tea garden workers. Abhishek will hold a similar interaction with tea workers in Jalpaiguri district.
“Trinamool is all set to play the development card in the brew belt and will try to drive home the point that despite people voting for the BJP, the legislators, both MPs and MLAs, have failed to do anything for the tea workers and their families,” an observer said.