Adhir resigned as WB Cong chief after LS polls, process to name new president on: AICC in-charge

PTI, Jul 30, 2024, 6:11 PM IST

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had resigned as the president of the West Bengal Congress Committee after the Lok Sabha polls and the process to appoint a new chief of the state unit is on, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Ghulam Ahmad Mir said on Tuesday.

His remarks came a day after Congress General Secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal, held a meeting with senior West Bengal party leaders, including Chowdhury, and discussed several issues, including ties with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.

“Discussions took place with senior leaders. Since he (Chowdhury) was sitting in that briefing, I informed everyone that ‘you should know that Adhir Ranjan ji after elections had tendered his resignation and you should place your views on the strategy of the party going forward towards the 2026 assembly polls’,” Mir told PTI.

“That is the truth that he had given his resignation. I said that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had given his resignation. So since he has given resignation, he is a former (PCC chief) only,” he said.

When pressed if Chowdhury’s resignation has been accepted, Mir said only Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s office can confirm that.

“Process is on, we have met some leaders who have expressed their opinion on the available leadership who can run the party better. Process is on to elect a new PCC chief. It will be done as soon as possible,” he said.

The Congress leadership is also understood to be taking feedback from leaders on maintaining the balance in ties with the TMC at the national and state levels.

The Congress state leadership, especially Chowdhury, has been at variance with the coordination and support seen between the Congress and the TMC at the central level.

An example of this was seen over the weekend when the Congress expressed solidarity with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over the developments at the NITI Aayog meeting, on the same day its West Bengal unit chief Chowdhury wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging that West Bengal is in an “anarchic condition” and sought her intervention to “restore law and order” in the state.