Mamata cracks whip on Cooch Behar infighting, asks TMC leaders to stay united ahead of 2026 polls

Cooch Behar (WB), Dec 9 (PTI) Cracking the whip on factionalism in Cooch Behar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the district leadership to bury differences and work together, warning that internal strife could hurt the party in the 2026 assembly elections.

Party sources said Banerjee held a late-night meeting with district leaders at the circuit house on Monday after an administrative review, where she expressed displeasure over the simmering feud between former north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh and incumbent minister Udayan Guha.

The meeting was attended by Ghosh and Guha, Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Basuniya and Greater Cooch Behar People's Association leader Banshi Badan Barman.

During the interaction, Banerjee issued a firm message to end the rift between senior and younger leaders and asked the party to move forward by carrying veterans along, party sources said.

The conflict had intensified in recent days after Ghosh, also the Cooch Behar municipal chairperson, accused Guha and district TMC president Abhijit De Bhowmik of sidelining old party workers and engineering false cases against them. Tensions had also surfaced over pressure on Ghosh to resign from his municipal post.

The public display of discord came at a sensitive time, with the 2026 assembly elections drawing closer. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC narrowly led the BJP in five of the nine assembly segments in Cooch Behar district, while the saffron party was ahead in the remaining four -- underlining the region's political volatility.

Following Banerjee's intervention, an apparent show of unity played out on Tuesday ahead of her public meeting at the Ras Mela ground. Ghosh, Guha, Abhijit De Bhowmik and Girindranath Barman were seen sitting close to each other on the dais, along with MP Basuniya.

"All differences are over. We will fight shoulder-to-shoulder," the district leaders said in unison.

Addressing the public meeting, Banerjee also used the platform to reinforce the message of unity while speaking on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

"If you are called for hearings during SIR, go with whatever documents you have. If you don't have papers, inform them about the problem. The party and the government will help. Our BLAs are already working for that," she said, appealing to party workers to stay united and assist voters.

"When a battle is on, everyone must fight together," Banerjee said.

District TMC chairman Girindranath Barman said, "We are all together. Whatever the chief minister and the party decide will be implemented. There is complete unity here." Ghosh, too, struck a conciliatory note, saying the party would fight the next assembly elections unitedly to defeat the BJP in all seats of the district.

Despite the public truce, political observers noted that whether the unity holds beyond the stage-managed display remains to be seen, especially in a district where factional tensions have long plagued the ruling party. PTI PNT ACD