TMC in makeover: Didi takes up reforms to make party as women- centric and more youthful

In business parlance, there is something called 'brand fatigue'. If one digs down a little deeper, brand fatigue is when your audience has heard/seen so much from you that they actually ignore your advertisements (which is bad). In fact, even if they do see/hear the advertisements, they've already cut you off and your message is useless. On top of that, your money is just being thrown away too. There are ways to stay away from it. One simplest and smartest way is to undertake a complete overhauling, a thorough facelift.

Mamata Banerjee - led Trinamool Congress, after its recent resounding electoral victory, is trying exactly the same-starting off little early for the next Lok Sabha polls due in 2024 and the next state Assembly polls, five years down the road.

The organisational restructuring that the ruling party in the State, successfully carried out last weekend, proves beyond doubt that it's a new look brand-more youthful, more vibrant, more effervescent. There was possibly nothing new or unexpected in the rise of Abhishek Banerjee, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and party MP, who had been at the centre of attack from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and all other Saffron leaders of all statures, in the run-up to the recently concluded polls. Abhishek and the youth wing of the party, aptly called - Yuva, which he used to lead, was certainly instrumental, to a large extent, in TMC's spectacular victory. However, the rise in his political stature should also be equally attributed to the continuous verbal tirades, which he faced from Modi-Shah and Co. Mamata's heir apparent, has expectedly been elevated to the post of party's all India general secretary, officially the second-in-command in the party.

But what sprung a real surprise was the nomination of young and bubbly Tollywood diva-Sayani Ghosh as the chief of the party's youth wing-Yuva, a post that had been held by Abhishek Banerjee, himself. Sayani had joined the party just before the polls and lost by a thin margin at Asansol. Her ever increasing follower-base in social media and the skillset to mix with the youth and the old with equal elan, paid off well. Former party Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh, another fire-brand young leader, who had been jailed in the Saradha scam, has also staged a comeback. He had campaigned for the party across the length and breadth of the state. He, according to many, was also one of the best performing spokesperson across party lines. And he has been rewarded for that, being made the state general secretary of the party. Sayantika Banerjee, Lovely Moitra, Jun Malia, Raj Chakraborty-all from the Tollywood film fraternity-have been given various top slots at various party arms. Party Rajya Sabha MP-Dola Sen, has been elevated to the all India chief of party's labour wing and former State Minister Purnendu Basu has been made the head of the party's farmers' wing. Vocal party MP-Dr Kakali Ghosh Dastidar will lead the women's wing of the party and another party MP Mala Roy will lead the party branch called 'Bangojanani'. Recognising the fact that the women had voted overwhelmingly for Mamata Banerjee's party, this time round, the stormy petrel put higher weightage to women leadership in the new look organisation.

Simultaneously with its own organisational restructuring, the party seems to have turned the table on BJP with an ever-increasing number of BJP leaders (including most of the TMC turncoats) evincing interest to switch over camps. TMC top brass is yet to take a call on this. Watch this space.