Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, firmly denied rumors of joining the BJP ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, declaring, “I am not a traitor.” Speaking to party leaders in Kolkata, he called out former party members Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari as instigators of fake news. Banerjee also criticized the CBI over a new charge-sheet in a teachers’ recruitment scam investigation, asserting their lack of evidence against him. He urged Trinamool Congress supporters to unite against conspiracies, referencing past BJP attacks while emphasizing their party’s electoral success in recent years.
Kolkata:
Will Abhishek Banerjee – the nephew of Trinamool leader and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also her close aide – switch to the BJP just months ahead of the 2026 Assembly election?
“Not even if someone were to ‘slit my neck’,” the Lok Sabha MP affirmed on Thursday.
“There are rumors going around that Abhishek Banerjee will join the BJP… I am not beimaan (traitor). Those suggesting that I am defecting to the BJP… even if they slit my throat, I will keep shouting the ‘Mamata Banerjee zindabad‘ slogan from my severed windpipe,” he exclaimed.
“I know who is behind this fake news,” Mr. Banerjee stated at a gathering of senior party members in Kolkata, pointing fingers at top former Trinamool leaders Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari.
“They have their own agendas leading up to next year’s election,” he said, branding Mr. Roy and Mr. Adhikari as “traitors” and asserting he would, once more, expose their actions.
Mr. Banerjee also confronted the CBI regarding a new charge-sheet in its investigation into the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam. Like many other opposition figures, he accused the federal agency, which is under central government control, of “operating at the behest of its political masters”.
He highlighted that the document does not actually accuse him.
VIDEO | TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) speaks to party workers at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata. He states, “As long as all of you stand with us, we will keep dismantling BJP’s ‘chakravyuh’… Those who have spoken ill about the party have been identified. I was the one… pic.twitter.com/4HeVzVAZVY
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 27, 2025
“I find it quite amusing that the CBI is so fearful it is making insinuations in an indirect manner. They lack any substantial evidence. I stated this five years ago and I reiterate: If you can produce a single shred of evidence (and) prove it in court… I will willingly walk up and hang myself.”
Mr. Banerjee initially made that statement in September 2021; it was in relation to accusations of money laundering during the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into coal theft.
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The statements made by the Trinamool MP are significant because he has been noticeably absent from the forefront of his party’s activities and criticisms of the BJP in recent weeks. He has reportedly been concentrating on social welfare and development initiatives for his constituency – Kolkata’s Diamond Harbour.
Re-entering the spotlight, Mr. Banerjee also cautioned potential dissenters in the party against conspiring with the BJP to undermine the Trinamool next year.
“Those who engage in conspiracies will face consequences… we will not cede an inch of ground to our adversaries. There was a campaign against Trinamool in 2024 (before the Lok Sabha elections, which were marked by intense political conflicts between the two parties) …”
From Sandeshkhali (where allegations emerged that now-suspended Trinamool influential Sheikh Shahjahan had sexually harassed multiple women) to the RG Kar case (the rape-murder of a junior doctor at a Kolkata hospital)… they attempted to tarnish Bengal’s reputation. But we gave them a fitting response…”
The Trinamool secured 29 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, marking an increase of seven since 2019.
Mr. Banerjee further encouraged Trinamool workers to persist in their support for the party, declaring, “As long as all of you are with us, we will continue to dismantle BJP’s ‘chakravyuh‘ (military formation).”
With input from agencies
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