TMC No. 2 to ‘fall guy’: How Abhishek Banerjee becomes lightning rod for party meltdown

The Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Friday to submit petitions seeking disqualification of 20 party MPs who recently jumped ship.

This was a desperate attempt by Abhishek to counter the revolt of 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs, who announced their merger with a little-known Bengal-based outfit, Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and met the Speaker to seek their recognition as a separate bloc on June 14.

The split in the Abhishek-led TMC parliamentary party came days after nearly 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs defied its leadership’s selection of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), naming instead Ritabrata Banerjee as their legislature party leader.

While these splits have created an existential crisis for the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, it is her nephew Abhishek, 38, who has faced the brunt of the party’s unravelling putting his political future at stake.

For Abhishek, who until one-and-a-months ago was the TMC’s undisputed number two as Mamata’s “political heir”, has now been under siege since the party’s debacle in the Bengal Assembly elections in early May.

Common ‘target’

Both TMC rebel groups, of MLAs and MPs, have accused Abhishek’s “high-handed leadership” and his “inaccessibility and arrogance” as a prime reason for their rebellion.

During a meeting convened by Mamata at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata on May 19 to take stock of the party’s defeat, several MLAs openly blamed Abhishek’s leadership for it. Some of them questioned Abhishek over party candidate Jahangir Khan’s move to withdraw from the Falta seat repoll. Jahangir was later arrested under various charges, even as his proximity to Abhisek appeared to be one reason for the TMC dissidents’ resentment.

After the party leadership picked Sobhandeb as the LoP, two MLAs, Ritabrata and Sandipan Saha, complained to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose that their signatures were allegedly forged in the party’s resolution on the matter. This triggered an implosion in the TMC’s legislature party.

While the two MLAs were expelled by the TMC, an investigation into the case was launched by the state CID, which also summoned and interrogated Abhishek.

Later, about 60 MLAs chose Ritabrata as their leader, with Speaker Bose recognising him as the LoP.

Ritabrata then targeted Abhishek, holding his responsible for the TMC’s plight. “Abhishek Banerjee has no connection with the legislature party,” he said, urging Mamata to “guide” them as their “chief advisor”. Other rebel MLAs also said while they respected Mamata they would never accept Abhishek.

Later, when the 20 MPs revolted and pledged their support to the ruling BJP-led NDA, they too blamed Abhishek for the crisis gripping the TMC.

Meanwhile, even Mamata’s loyalist, Sreerampur MP Kalyan Banerjee, took aim at Abhishek for his “arrogance” after being replaced as his lawyer in the high court in the alleged forged signature case. In an outburst, he said, “Mamata Banerjee has to decide whether she will stay with Abhishek or us who are unhappy with him.”

Kalyan, however, later resolved his differences with Abhishek and accompanied him for his meeting with Speaker Birla.

Sobhandeb, slammed the TMC rebels, rejecting their claims. “We are with the TMC and Mamata from day one. At times we also may not be happy with certain issues, we raise them within the party without indulging in indiscipline. When the party is in a crisis after losing an election, attacking it openly cannot be justified. It is opportunistic,” he told The Indian Express.

Multiple cases

Soon after the poll results, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation issued notices to a total of 17 premises linked to Abhishek, his parents and his Leaps and Bounds firm over alleged unauthorised constructions there.

The police also registered cases over some of his alleged “inflammatory remarks” during the poll campaign, which the CID is probing.

Abhishek’s name has also figured in alleged cattle and coal smuggling cases being probed by the CBI and ED. These central agencies have interrogated him several times during 2021-26 in connection with these cases.

“The challenges before Abhishek Banerjee, who still enjoys support of Mamata Banerjee, are daunting and unprecedented. The TMC is fighting a battle for survival and so is Abhishek, for his political future. On one hand the rebel MPs and MLAs have split the party, and on the other hand, multiple state and central agencies are issuing him summons in case after case,” said a senior party leader close to Mamata.

Outreach to Congress

Both Mamata and Abhishek visited Delhi to attend the June 8 meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc, following which Mamata called on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi while Abhishek met Rahul Gandhi. These meetings fuelled speculations about a possible merger of the TMC with its parent party Congress in the coming days.

“I was not at these meetings. But it is obvious that at this juncture the TMC needs support from the Congress,” said a TMC leader and Mamata loyalist. “I am not aware that Congress has proposed a merger. But things are really getting tougher and one should look at all options. However, we still have several loyal MPs and MLAs with us.”

While the Congress had been a marginal Opposition player in Bengal during most of the TMC government’s 15-year tenure, the party was Mamata’s ally in 2011 when she ousted the CPI(M)-led Left Front from power after its 34-year rule.

Tussle with old guard

Abhishek made his electoral debut in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he contested the Diamond Harbour seat successfully. He went on to win from his constituency in 2019 and 2024.

Both Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy, who were once close aides of Mamata, switched to the BJP as they refused to accept Abhishek’s growing dominance in party affairs.

The 2019 Lok Sabha polls saw the emergence of the BJP as a major player in state politics, when it bagged 18 seats against the TMC’s 22. Subsequently, Abhishek was given a larger role in the TMC and he brought in political consultancy firm I-PAC to manage its poll preparations.

This paid dividends for the TMC in the 2021 Assembly elections, when the I-PAC helped the party formulate its strategies and narratives leading to its victory for a third consecutive term.

However, the TMC’s increasing dependence on the I-PAC put Abhishek on a collision course with the party’s old guard, several of whom felt sidelined in the process.