Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced a major organisational overhaul on Friday, retaining Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary while appointing two joint secretaries to assist him.
The changes followed a national working committee meeting at Banerjee’s Kalighat residence in Kolkata. Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen were named national joint secretaries. Firhad Hakim resigned as Kolkata mayor the same day, stating he could no longer discharge duties with dignity after the party’s assembly poll defeat. He said the chair required respect that he could no longer uphold. Chandrima Bhattacharya replaced Subrata Bakshi as West Bengal state president. Other appointments included state vice presidents Sajda Ahmed, Mamata Thakur, Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Swati Khandekar, and state general secretaries Aroop Biswas, Rajib Banerjee, Babar Ali, Pulak Roy and Ashima Patra. The moves came after 58 rebel MLAs selected Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition, defying party leadership.
