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News Desk: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is appointed as Bengal Congress President ahead of 2021 polls. The decision was announced by party general secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday. Somen Mitra, who was the party’s president in West Bengal before this, had died on July 30. A week ago, Abdul Mannan, a senior Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, had written to Sonia Gandhi with a request to appoint Chowdhury as the state president.
The party showed an interest in further strengthening of ties with the Left. A psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty, a professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University said “The message is clear. The Congress would not like to walk with the TMC when it comes to state politics because they know very well that the TMC would not leave an inch for them. They would, however, need the TMC when it comes to opposing the BJP at the centre. Hence, Chowdhury was the best bet as he would not only consolidate the party’s position in Murshidabad, a bastion of the Congress, but would also help to strengthen the party’s ties with the Left and at the same time oppose the TMC tooth and nail”
