What does not escape notice is those enjoying proximity of her nephew and de facto second in command of the party, Abhishek Banerjee are not finding any space. This is a marked departure from the pre-poll scenario when his followers outnumbered the old guard.

A look at the composition of leadership Trinamool Congress Legislature Party will underscore this contention. The course charted by TCLP will be helmed by the leaders close to the TMC supremo. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who had been the first legislator to represent TMC in the Assembly when it broke away from Congress has been chosen as leader of the Opposition. Firad Hakim, .mayor of Kolkata, will be the chief whip.

Both the legislators have been with Mamata Banerjee for decades. Moreover, the duo belong to the handful of Trinamool Congress MLAs representing the party in the Assembly between 2006 and 2011 whom the then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had sarcastically referred to as "small is beautiful."

Nayana Bandopadhyay and Asima Patra will be two deputy leaders of the legislature party. Being the better half of Kolkata(north) MP Sudip Bandopadhyay who left Congress with Mamata has certainly cemented Nayana's claim to her new post.

The choice of the new leaders reflect importance of their legislative experience. Now that they in the Opposition they would be more than useful taking on the BJP members in the Treasury benches during Assembly sessions.

All four are close to the party supremo. The party said "these leaders would work with commitment to the interests of the people of Bengal". The TMC representatives now in the driver's seat all belong to the old guard. After TMC 's victory in 2021 Assembly polls, Abhishek had pushed for younger leaders in organisational lists.

Days later a more significant reshuffle occurred in the leadership of Trinamool Congress Parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha. Kalyan Bandopadhayay has been made the chief whip.

Bandopadhayay, a MP from Srirampur was once the Chief Whip of the party in the Lok Sabha. Known for his run-ins with Abhishek Banerjee, the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, the Srirampur MP relinquished his post after a public spat with TMC's Krishnanagar MP, Mahua Moitra.

Bandopadhyay's return to grace is more than a routine reshuffle. Trinamool party supremo has left none in any doubt that she is the sole power centre in the party and by bringing back an old faithful she has overlooked his criticism of her nephew.

Incidentally, Mamata Banerjee in her first media interaction after election made it clear that critics of her nephew would face disciplinary action. But reinstating Kalyan Bandopadhyay, she sent a message that leaders whose utility to the party and loyalty to the supremo is unquestionable will get precedence.

The Srirampur MP had blamed I-PAC, the political consultancy firm for the poll debacle. Abhishek Banerjee had deployed this firm to strategise the party policy and earmark poll nominees.

Kalyan Bandopadhyay has emerged as one of TMC's most visible legal and political faces taking an aggressive role in court battles and public confrontations. The decision carried another message. Assembly-wise performance was not necessarily an yard stick for assigning parliamentary responsibilities. Bandopadhyay replaced Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.

Trinamool Congress fared badly both in Srirampur and Barasat. Yet Bandopadhayay replaced Ghosh Dastidar. Bandopadhyay's son Shirsanya contested from Uttarpara Assembly segment but lost.

In fact, Mamata Banerjee appeared in court to plead in a PIL filed in Calcutta High Court on post poll violence. The father and son duo's renewed proximity to the TMC supremo was noticeable in court indicating the success of their formula of their finding place within the "magic circle". (IPA Service)