Kolkata, Nov 14 (IANS): Although Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal has been removed from the post of the party’s Birbhum District President, there will be no one to replace him for the time-being.

Instead, the party’s organisation in the district will be overseen by a District Core Committee, which will be headed by a Core Committee Chairman, which is a newly-created post. This was confirmed on Tuesday by senior party leader and West Bengal Minister Asish Banerjee, who has been appointed as that district committee chairman.

“Organisational decisions will be taken by the District Core Committee in the absence of Anubrata Mondal. I am grateful to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for appointing me as the Chairman of the committee. But I will not take any organisational decisions at a personal level. All the decisions will be taken by the members of the Core Committee jointly,” Banerjee told mediapersons on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, there is speculation in the political circles of the state as to why Mondal’s replacement has not been announced.

Political observers feel that the replacement was not announced, probably keeping in mind the massive infighting in the ruling party in Birbhum that surfaced soon after Mondal’s arrest last year by the CBI in connection with the multi-core cattle smuggling case in West Bengal.

“Probably, Mondal was retained at that post even for a year after his arrest. Now with the possibilities of his release becoming remote, the party leadership was forced to make an alternative arrangement. But instead of announcing Mondal’s replacement, it gave a joint responsibility to the members of the District Core Committee for organisational decisions. This was clearly to arrest any infighting within the party,” a political analyst said.