Behrampore MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was made the Bengal Congress chief late on Wednesday night with the appointment being seen as a clear hint that the party wouldn’t have an alliance with Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly polls next year.

The five-time MP and a known Mamata baiter will take charge as the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president with “immediate effect”, said a release issued by AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal. The post of PCC chief had been lying vacant since the death of Somen Mitra on July 30.

“I am an obedient worker of the party… I have always tried to perform the responsibilities given to me by the party to the best of my abilities and I will keep doing that,” said Chowdhury late on Wednesday night.

A senior state Congress leader said the AICC, especially party president Sonia Gandhi, sent out a clear signal about the Congress’s strategy for the Assembly polls.

“Adhir-da’s appointment makes it clear that the Congress is not going to have any truck with Trinamul in the Assembly polls,” said the source.

While there is little doubt that Chowdhury, a firebrand leader, will rejuvenate the party and carry on with the alliance with the Left, there is a lack of clarity on whether he will retain his position as the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.

Asked about it, Chowdhury himself said he hadn’t been told to give up his responsibility in the Lok Sabha.

A leader close to the Behrampore MP said that there were several instances of leaders performing dual responsibilities in the Congress.

“Pranab Mukherjee, A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi had performed the role of PCC president even when they were central ministers… So, Adhir-da can continue playing his roles both in Delhi and Calcutta,” said the leader.