TMC's Abhishek dismisses speculation of rift with Mamata

PTI, KOLKATA, FEB 27, 2025 : Dismissing reports of his so-called 'rift' with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the party’s MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday asserted that he remains a "loyal soldier of the TMC", and considered the party supremo as his leader. Addressing a gathering of senior party workers and leaders at the TMC’s organisational meeting at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here, Abhishek claimed that the opposition habitually takes recourse to spread such “canards” whenever an election comes knocking at the door. The meeting was aimed at outlining strategies for the 2026 Assembly polls in the state.

“Those who say that I am crossing over to the BJP, let me say that even if they slit my throat, I will continue to raise the ‘Mamata Banerjee Zindabad’ slogan from my severed windpipe,” Abhishek said. Abhishek's statement assumes significance in the wake of his perceived recent absence from the forefront of Trinamool’s organisational activities and largely remaining focused on social welfare pursuits, limited to the Diamond Harbour constituency which he represents in Parliament.

“I know those people who are spreading such fake news. They have vested interests ahead of the next year’s assembly polls,” the MP added. Naming Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari, Abhishek said he had “identified them as traitors” ahead of the previous elections. “I had exposed them before. I will do it once again with those who are trying to create unrest within our party,” the Diamond Harbour MP asserted.

Stressing on the need to abide by party discipline, Abhishek alerted the TMC leadership to remain careful about their discourses in the public domain. “If you think you are an MP or an MLA or a block president and enjoy the immunity to say things in public which demean the party and weaken its position, you are wrong. Those who have done so have already been identified. Each one of us is guided by organisational rules. There should be no slackness in your work in the run-up to the state polls,” he said.

Urging party members to focus on public service instead of internal conflicts, he said, “Forget about your own differences next year and concentrate on working for the people. There is no point in engaging in conspiracies. Those indulging in WhatsApp group politics should know that such efforts will be futile. Those conspiring will be impacted themselves.”

Referring to the CBI’s latest charge sheet which names a certain 'Abhishek Banerjee' in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam probe, the TMC MP and the party’s perceived second-in-command, lashed out at the agency for allegedly “acting at the behest of its political masters”. “I find it amusing that the CBI is so scared that it is pointing fingers at me in an indirect manner. That’s because they do not have a shred of actionable evidence against me. I said this five years ago and I will say it again: If you can produce a single piece of evidence that ties me to any form of corruption, you don’t need to write charge sheets. Simply prove them in court and prepare a gallows. I will willingly walk up and hang myself," Abhisek claimed.