Siliguri, July 21: Trinamul today managed to bring to its fold the first CPM tea union leader from the Dooars, a belt where the party still does not have a stranglehold.
Malbazar CPM MLA Bulu Chik Baraik, however, was the only addition Trinamul made to its defection kitty today after much talk that the party would wean away several Congress leaders.
The Congress has managed to retain its flock.
CPM leaders in Jalpaiguri called Baraik a "traitor".
Baraik, the Jalpaiguri zonal committee secretary of the CPM and a known face of the Citu-affiliated Cha Bagan Mazdoor Union, today said he could not carry out development work in his constituency and so decided to switch to Trinamul. "I was facing problems in delivering on my responsibilities as the MLA of Malbazar. I decided to join Trinamul so that development can be expedited," he said over phone from Calcutta today.
Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee, while speaking at the Martyr's Day rally, announced that Baraik had joined the party.
The Jalpaiguri district CPM announced his expulsion from the party soon after. "He is a traitor and has taken the decision for his own interests. We have expelled him from the party today," Salil Acharya, the district CPM secretary, said. "His desertion will not have any impact in our trade union base."
Baraik, a tribal face in the predominantly tribal constituency, was a known trade union leader and had worked for many years to strengthen the Citu's base in the tea estates of the Dooars. He was known to be the right-hand man of Chanu Dey, the former zonal secretary of the CPM in Malbazar. About five months back, Baraik replaced Dey as the zonal committee secretary. Before being elected as the MLA, he had also contested the rural polls and won a Malbazar panchayat samiti seat.
Baraik is a Grade IV employee and a resident of Rungamuttee Tea Estate in Malbazar.
District Trinamul and Inttuc leaders in Jalpaiguri are elated over the development. North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb said Baraik's induction would "strengthen our party and trade union in Malbazar and the adjoining areas".
"In Malbazar subdivision, there are two Assembly constituencies (Malbazar and Nagrakata). In both these seats, it is the votes of tea workers which make the winner. Back in 2011, both these seats were left for the Congress as we had an alliance with them. But since 2012, after the Congress severed ties with us, we could not manage to gain control of the tea estates. Now that the local MLA has joined our party, we hope that developing the trade union base will be effective," a Trinamul insider said.
Trinamul had brought to its fold tribal leaders such as Dasrath Tirkey and Joachim Buxla from the RSP, but neither is known as a tea trade union leader.
"There were also speculations that Joseph Munda, the Congress MLA of Nagrakata, might join the party. It however, did not materialise because of some reason or the other," a Trinamul insider said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR JALPAIGURI CORRESPONDENT
