The West Bengal unit of CPI(M) has decided to take disciplinary actions against the party’s former state secretary Anil Biswas’ daughter Ajanta Biswas, for writing an article for their rival party TMC mouthpiece Jago Bangla, eulogising CM Mamata Banerjee.
Ajanta teaches history at Rabindra Bharati University. She is a CPI(M) card-holder and a member of the party’s organisation of teachers and professors.
On Wednesday, Ajanta created a flutter, not only inside her party but also in the state political circle, after she wrote an article titled “Bongo Rajnitite Narishakti’ (Women power in Bengal Politics) on the TMC mouthpiece, where she discussed the contribution of women politicians in West Bengal from pre-independence up to the present times.
The communist party in the state was left feeling embarrassed when Jago Bangla started printing a four-part series on women empowerment in Bengal politics written by Biswas, on July 28 (Wednesday). The article was prominently carried on the editorial page on July 31 (Saturday).
CPI(M) member praises the Singur movement in TMC mouthpiece
Ajanta Biswas’ article is divided into several series. While her first three research-based pieces highlighted figures such as Basanti Devi, Sarojini Naidu, Suniti Devi and others from the pre and post-Independence era, the last one focused entirely on Mamata Banerjee.
While lauding Mamata Banerjee’s government for being committed to empowering women, the article by the CPI(M) member, surprisingly, also extolled the Singur movement, which contributed to Mamata Banerjee’s landmark victory in 2011 ending her own party’s 34-year-long rule in the state.
The issue of writing for the rival party’s mouthpiece was discussed in the state committee meeting of the party on Wednesday.
The Communist party mulls to send show-cause notice to Ajanta Biswas
On Wednesday, the concerning issue of one of its own party members writing for the rival party’s mouthpiece was widely discussed in the state committee meeting of the party and since then, the state unit of CPI(M) has been mulling to send a show-cause notice to its member Ajanta Biswas.
Hindustan Times quoted a CPI(M) member as saying that Ajanta will be asked to explain why she wrote the article lauding the rival party’s chief. After examining her reply the party will decide its course of action. “She is a party member. How can she write an article without permission from the party in a daily newspaper of a rival political party?” asked a senior leader.
It is pertinent to note here that Ajanta Biswas’ father Anil Biswas was one of the most successful strategists against the TMC. He is revered by CPI(M) workers to this day. Many in the political circle are of the belief that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC managed to build up successful movements only after the death of Anil Biswas in 2006.
Biswas has also been the editor of Ganashakti, the Bengal CPI(M)’s daily mouthpiece, and was a bitter critic of Mamata Banerjee.
“A CPI(M) local unit in Kolkata will ask Biswas to explain why she wrote for the TMC’s mouthpiece. This has created a stir in the party. Usually, a member is given a week to reply to a show-cause notice. But given the nature of the situation, she will be given less time,” Kallol Majumdar, secretary of the CPI(M)’s Kolkata district committee, told HT on the night of July 31 (Saturday).
Deciding to break her silence over the issue, Biswas told the media on Saturday that her articles were based on research. “I am proud to be the daughter of Anil Biswas. It is my family identity. As a professor of history, I wrote the article (on Banerjee) in view of her contribution to politics and her role in the empowerment of women,” she said hours before the CPI(M) decided to take action against her.
