As information about the altercation between the lady MP and the TMC’s senior whip in the Lok Sabha at the Election Commission office last week surfaces, tensions rise; Mamata Banerjee is the target of the matter.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is grappling with an internal political storm following a heated clash between its Lok Sabha chief whip, Kalyan Banerjee, and other party MPs, which intensified on Tuesday. A female MP, who recently had a public altercation with Banerjee, has formally complained to TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about his conduct.
The dispute originated on April 4 at the Election Commission (EC) office in Delhi, where a group of TMC MPs, including Banerjee, had gone to submit a memorandum. Party sources revealed that tensions flared when the female MP discovered her name was omitted from the list of signatories. According to a TMC MP, the situation was compounded by Banerjee’s decision to skip a prior meeting at the TMC’s Parliament office and head directly to the EC. “When we arrived, we found that one woman MP’s name was missing, and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar’s name was added instead, even though Dastidar wasn’t present. This upset the woman MP, who questioned Banerjee. He responded with derogatory remarks, prompting her to call for his arrest by security officials. That’s when he lost his temper and unleashed a barrage of offensive language,” the source explained.
Another TMC MP noted that the woman considered filing a police complaint in Delhi but was convinced by colleagues to escalate the matter to Mamata Banerjee instead. “She has written to our party leader, and we trust action will be taken,” the MP said.
At a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, Banerjee lashed out at the unnamed female MP and Bardhaman-Durgapur MP Kirti Azad. The outburst came after BJP I-T Cell chief Amit Malviya shared WhatsApp chats and a video allegedly depicting internal TMC discussions online. Banerjee denied using derogatory language, accusing the woman MP of fabricating claims. “I’ve fought CPI(M); she never did. She joined the party after 2009 through a Congress leader’s connection and rose in district politics. Why should I heed her? She claims I should be jailed for indecent words—she’s lying. If the party asks, I’ll step away from everything. But I won’t tolerate this. She may be polished and fluent in English, but that doesn’t give her the right to insult me,” he said. He also mocked her parliamentary demands, saying, “She insists on speaking whenever she wants. She was annoyed I spoke during the Waqf Bill debate. If she gets 18 minutes on a minor bill, can’t I take 35 on the Waqf Bill? I speak for the people; she speaks for one industrialist against another.”
Banerjee also targeted Azad, whose name appeared in the leaked chats. “An MP who switched from BJP and lacks popularity shared the video and chats with them. He was pushing a signature campaign for a sweet shop in Parliament—I opposed it. That wasn’t the party’s agenda, it was his,” Banerjee alleged. The Indian Express sought Azad’s response, but he declined to comment.
Senior TMC MP Saugata Roy from Dum Dum criticized Banerjee’s behavior, saying, “Our parliamentary chairperson Sudip Bandyopadhyay is level-headed, but he’s been unwell. Kalyan thought he could wield extra authority and lost his composure. If someone suggested his arrest, he must have done something to warrant it. This is damaging the party’s image.” Banerjee retorted by referencing the Narada sting operation, accusing Roy of hypocrisy. “Saugata da has hurt the party more—he was caught taking money in Narada, and yesterday he was smoking at a meeting. He’s disliked me since 2001. He’s loyal to (late Congress leader) Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, not Mamata. He’s a Narada thief,” Banerjee charged.
Roy fired back, claiming Banerjee had “lost his mental balance” and suffered from an “inferiority complex.” “The party will decide his fate. I think he shouldn’t remain chief whip,” Roy said. Another TMC MP echoed this sentiment, noting a growing consensus within the parliamentary group that Banerjee’s “foul-mouthed” nature made him unfit for the chief whip role.
