IT IS AN arc as big as it gets in West Bengal, no matter the turn in the middle. Abdus Sattar, a former minister in the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left Front government from 2006-2011 is now an advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The job profile remains the same for the 55-year-old former MLA of Amdanga in North 24 Parganas district. He was the Minister of State, Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department, in the Left Front government. In his new role, he is an advisor on minority affairs to the Trinamool Congress government.

For the Mamata government, which has built a solid Muslim vote bank as the BJP rises and the Left and Congress are pushed to the margins in West Bengal, Sattar is a good face. A professor of Bengali, Sattar is known for his progressive views as well as organisational abilities.

As MoS, Minority Affairs, Sattar had overseen the passage of the Aliah University Bill by the Buddhadeb government, while many Muslim groups were included in the OBC category. The modernisation of the education system in madrasas is also credited to his time in office.

However, after the CPI(M)-led Left Front lost power in 2011 to the TMC, Sattar’s distance with the party leadership kept growing. In 2018, after the TMC again returned to power, he joined the Congress. This surprised many as, at the time, leaders were moving to the TMC or, in some cases, the BJP.

Sattar said at the time: “I wanted to be part of a secular political force with a pan-India presence that can take on the BJP nationally and the Trinamool in Bengal. The divisive agenda of both the parties needs to be countered firmly.”

In 2021, Sattar contested the Assembly elections from Baduria in North 24 Parganas on the Congress ticket but lost.

Sources said Sattar’s position in the Congress had become untenable after Adhir Chowdhury’s replacement as Bengal party chief in September with Shuvankar Sarkar, whom Sattar is not very close to.

Sources said that for the by-elections in Haroa, Bengal, being held Wednesday, Sattar was initially offered the role of observer by the Congress. However, he expressed his inability to take up the charge. Then came news of his appointment by the TMC government.

A TMC leader said, “Ultimately, our party leadership decided to absorb Sattar as an educated minority face… Our leaders have given feedback that the educated minority section is gradually distancing themselves from the TMC. Our prominent Muslim leaders like Firhad Hakim or Siddiqullah Chowdhury can’t fill the gap. We need to cater to these sections (educated minorities), and we told the CM about Sattar being the right person. Mamata Banerjee agreed.”

A section of TMC leaders said Sattar’s inclusion may also stem some of the disillusionment with the party following the R G Kar rape-murder case, particularly among the educated classes including Muslims.

The government notification on Sattar’s new role says he shall be entitled to emoluments, allowances and perks applicable to a Cabinet minister.

Asked about Sattar moving to its arch rival in Bengal, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “It is basically an acknowledgment by the CM that development work was done under the Left.” Chakraborty said it would also silence the TMC’s claims that the Left did nothing for minorities.

Sattar said he did not want to comment as yet. “I will join the job soon. After that, I can comment.” What needs to be understood, he said, was that he had not joined the TMC. “I have just taken up this assignment.”