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Time of India

Nawsad kin TMC gen secy, Sabyasachi Barasat dist chair

1 2 Kolkata: Furfura Sharif Pirzada Kasem Siddiqui, cousin of ISF MLA Nawsad, was made TMC general secretary on Monday in a reshuffle. Furfura Sharif, a Sufi shrine and its Pirzadas wield significant influence over Bengali-speaking Muslim voters in Bengal. Kasem warming up to TMC was apparent when CM Mamata Banerjee went to Furfura Sharif earlier this year for iftar. The other notable change was Bidhannagar civic body chairman Sabyasachi Dutta being made the party's Barasat organisational district chairperson on Monday. Dutta, who defected to BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly poll, returned to TMC later. He was made BMC chairman but did not find a place in the party organisation. Dutta did not respond to calls by TOI but later posted his gratitude to CM Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on social media. MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, however, will continue to lead the party as district president in Barasat. Former Congress MLA Sankar Malakar, who recently defected to TMC, has been rewarded with a post of vice-president in the party. Kasem and Malakar will also be part of the party core committee, which is chaired by the CM and is the highest decision-making body. Kolkata: Furfura Sharif Pirzada Kasem Siddiqui, cousin of ISF MLA Nawsad, was made TMC general secretary on Monday in a reshuffle. Furfura Sharif, a Sufi shrine and its Pirzadas wield significant influence over Bengali-speaking Muslim voters in Bengal. Kasem warming up to TMC was apparent when CM Mamata Banerjee went to Furfura Sharif earlier this year for iftar. The other notable change was Bidhannagar civic body chairman Sabyasachi Dutta being made the party's Barasat organisational district chairperson on Monday. Dutta, who defected to BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly poll, returned to TMC later. He was made BMC chairman but did not find a place in the party organisation. Dutta did not respond to calls by TOI but later posted his gratitude to CM Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on social media. MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, however, will continue to lead the party as district president in Barasat. Former Congress MLA Sankar Malakar, who recently defected to TMC, has been rewarded with a post of vice-president in the party. Kasem and Malakar will also be part of the party core committee, which is chaired by the CM and is the highest decision-making body.