Subhas Chakraborty: So near...

Calcutta, Dec. 31: Transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has come close to fulfilling his long-standing objective of earning a berth in the CPM secretariat, sources said.

The secretariat is the highest policy-making body of the party at the state level.

“One cannot say with ab-solute certainty that he will make it. Certain things need to be addressed, but never before had he come so close to making it to the secretariat,” a source said.

CPM officials said a combination of factors had tilted the scales in favour of Chakraborty over the past few months, regardless of his penchant for causing headaches to the party and the government by unconventional acts and utterances.

First, CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu, regarded as the protector of Chakraborty, is understood to have suggested to the state leadership that it consider inducting the transport minister into the secretariat.

“He is a senior leader who has made some contribution to the growth of our party. When will we consider him, if not now?” Basu is reported to have asked the state leadership while discussing the issue.

Second, the relationship between chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Chakraborty is not as frosty as is often made out.

The two enjoy complementary and inclusive relations, evidence of which is available in Chakraborty’s spirited defence of the chief minister’s initiatives on Nandigram and Singur. Besides, there are several unpublicised instances of Chakraborty standing up to defend the chief minister.

On the other hand, Chakraborty’s hitherto blocked proposals for execution of capital-intensive transport and other projects have been getting faster clearances, thanks to the intervention of the chief minister.

“These days our proposals are moving fast because of the support from the chief minister,” a transport department official said.

Third, party secretary Biman Bose is not expected to stand in the way if the collective opinion (of Basu, Bhattacharjee and a few others) favours Chakraborty, who has been knocking on the door of the secretariat for over 15 years, only to witness the induction of several junior colleagues.

Emboldened by its success at the recent North 24-Parganas district party conference, the Chakraborty lobby is now pinning its hopes on berths in the state secretariat as well as in the central committee.

Several Chakraborty loyalists won key positions in the district party set-up.

The state party leadership is believed to be looking at another proposal that seeks to induct into the state committee the Sunderbans affairs minister, Kanti Ganguly, a key player in South 24-Parganas where the chief minister’s seat, Jadavpur, is located.

In the last organisational election, a proposal for making Ganguly the district unit secretary had to be buried because the party needed him in the government.

In 2007, too, Ganguly and his camp have taken control of the district unit but the post of secretary has eluded him once again.

“A decision on the two proposals will be taken in a day or two,” a source said.