Balurghat, Feb. 16: Balurghat MLA and public works department minister Shankar Chakraborty who was recently made the South Dinajpur district president of the Trinamul Congress has stressed the need for unity in the party and vowed to win all six Assembly seats in the district in the coming polls.

Harirampur MLA Biplab Mitra was removed as the district chief of Trinamul on February 9 and Chakraborty was appointed to the post on the same day.

"Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has given me the new responsibility and being loyal to the party, I will try my best to grab all six seats in the district in the Assembly elections. I have no tussle with the former district party president who, too, is an integral part of Trinamul," said Chakraborty.

Asked about the factionalism in Trinamul in the district, Chakraborty said: "I will first lay stress on the need to maintain unity in the party to remove any confusion among the rank and file. Trinamul is committed to the welfare of common people. If there are factions in the party, it sends a wrong message to the public, particularly ahead of the Assembly polls."

According to a senior Trinamul leader, the minister was given the responsibility of the party in South Dinajpur to bring about unity in the faction-ridden organisation. "Chakraborty has to bring about unity in the party through discussions and ensure a healthy atmosphere before the polls," he said.

Mitra said he hadn't been removed from the district president's post. "The high command did not expel me. I resigned from the post. There are some leaders who had schemed against me by sending wrong messages to the Trinamul supremo (Mamata Banerjee) frequently," said the Harirampur legislator.

He said he had never been loyal to Mukul Roy. "When Trinamul came to power in 2011, Mukul Roy was the next leader after Mamata Banerjee in the party. Had I been close to him, I would have been made a minister," said Mitra.

He said all Trinamul leaders had been instructed to apprise the people of the development projects that the state government had executed.

Chakraborty has already met Trinamul's zonal presidents, block presidents, zilla parishad members of the party and district committee members and given them a stern message that factionalism will not be allowed.

Sources said the Trinamul high command had given the party MLAs the right to take decisions independent of party leaders in his/her respective constituency. "The MLAs will work independently from now. They have to talk to the party members while taking any decision to avoid controversies," said a Trinamul insider.

The sources said Trinamul's priority was to bag Kushmandi seat in the coming polls. Kushmandi was the only constituency which the party could not win in the district in the 2011 elections. All other five seats were won by the party.