Shanku Deb Panda (27) was elected as the new state president of TMCP earlier this week and has started working from January 5. Panda, who hails from Contai in East Midnapore, is doing his MBA from a private college.

In June 2008, Panda stung Iliyas, catching him on camera in the act as he was accepting a bribe for asking a question in the state Assembly on the problems faced by children in Nandigram. After the tape was aired on a regional TV channel, the MLA had to resign from the Assembly.

“Journalism for me was a means to fight injustice. I feel in the present context, Trinamool is the only party which is fighting injustice. That is why I am with the party,” Panda said. “My first priority is to start the TMCP in almost all the colleges in the state. There is nothing called SFI — the entire CPM students’ wing is being run by CPM cadres and goons and students are no longer with them,” he said. Panda has worked with three local TV channels and a Bengali daily for nearly six years. He did his schooling from Contai High School in East Midnapore and graduation in law from Jogesh Chandra Law College in Kolkata.

Didi opposes factory shutdown
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today said she would oppose the move to shut down factories like Burn Standard and Jessop.