Speculation over FB secretary's chair in Cooch Behar

 

COOCH BEHAR, Aug. 13: High speculation is going on over the general secretary's chair of Forward Bloc in Cooch Behar. A heavyweight leader like Kamal Guha was the general secretary till his death. Now the party is suffering from indecision to elect a leader for that post. Will a new one ever be able to retain the image of the late leader in that post? The general secretary should have to take the responsibility to strengthen the organisation by retaining the its leftist attitude and at the same time he have to earn confidence of the grass root level supporters by continuing fight against the CPI-M. One should not forget that in Cooch Behar almost all FB supporters dislike the CPI-M's "big brotherly attitude" and the party enjoys support from the people for its anti-CPIM stance.

 

After recent demise of Kamal Guha some names are coming up as probable candidates for the post of general secretary of the party. Mr Akshoy Thakur is on the top of the list. Among others there are Mr Udayan Guha and Mr Paresh Adhikary. All-India general secretary Mr Debarata Biswas is to take the final decision, party sources said. He reportedly discussed the matter with senior leaders in state and district level. Not only the state secretary of the party Mr Ashok Ghosh but also some other state secretariat members are keeping regular contact with the local leaders to feel the pulse over the issue.

 

Mr Akshoy Thakur is the MLA from Cooch Behar (West) Assembly constituency. He had served the All India Youth League as its district unit general secretary and he has adequate experience to run an organisation. Though he is a follower of late Kamal Guha he has his own personality too. He has the ability to make his presence felt everywhere. Like Kamal Guha he also never spares any issue to criticise the CPI-M. District AIYL sources said they would be happy if Mr Thakur become the party's general secretary because he is acceptable to all in the party.

 

Mr Udayan Guha of Dinhata is also a candidate for the post. He is the son of late Kamal Guha and a state committee member. His father left the Dinhata seat in favour of him in the last Assembly election but he failed to retain it. A senior leader said mere sentiment couldn't be a qualification for Mr Guha to get the post. He has little influence over party supporters in the entire district. He preferred to confine himself in Dinhata and so he is not acceptable for the whole district, another leader said.

 

A staunch follower of Kamal Guha, Mr Paresh Adhikary is the food and supply minister. He is a resident of Mekhliganj. But he is not a leader acceptable to all sections of the party. At the same time following the existing norm in the party a man cannot hold two responsible posts – in party and in ministry – both at a time, FB sources said. And in this perspective the possibility of Mr Akshoy Thakur is bright. []

 

PHOTO : Mr Akshoy Thakur, Mr Udayan Guha and Mr Paresh Adhikary.