Abhishek Banerjee rules out TMC return for 'traitors' who crossed over to dissident factions

Kolkata: TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said not a single "traitor", who crossed over to the dissident factions to "protect their backs", will be allowed to return to the party.

Addressing a rally, organised on the occasion of the foundation day of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, the party's students' wing, Banerjee also highlighted the importance of "youth power" to alter the course of national politics and asserted that students of the country have forced 'Delhi zamindars' to bow before their might.

"Although our supreme leader Mamata Banerjee has the final say on the matter, I say this with utmost conviction: Not a single traitor who flourished under the TMC and left the hands of our workers in these testing times to save their backs will be allowed to return to our party," the leader said, endorsing an earlier appeal made in his speech by party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.


"Those who joined the "BC" (Balish-Chata, literally "pillow-licking", indicating the Ritabrata Banerjee-led dissident faction in the state Assembly) group to protect themselves and are now enjoying perks from BJP would receive no concessions from us in future," he added.

Banerjee's remarks assumed greater significance following the recent notices issued by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to 20 rebel TMC MPs who had merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

The MPs have been asked to respond within seven days to the disqualification petition filed by Diamond Harbour MP under the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.

The notices were served on Tuesday, coinciding with the Supreme Court's decision to issue notices to the MPs in connection with Abhishek Banerjee's plea seeking a time-bound direction for the Speaker to decide on their disqualification.

In a veiled attack on the BJP, Banerjee stressed the role of the students in taking on "anti-people policies" of regimes at both the Centre and the state.

"The country has entered such a phase where students' agitations have rocked the nation. The zamindars of Delhi have been practically forced to bow their heads before the might of students and youth," he said.

Banerjee was referring to the recent Cockroach Janta Party's protest over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and the subsequent resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"This was a result of the curse on the party which stole votes to gain power in Bengal. The poll results in the state were declared on May 4, and on May 15 the Cockroach Janata Party was formed," he said.

Banerjee challenged the BJP's top leadership and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, saying, "If you have the courage, first stand face-to-face with the students and youth and fight them."

The MP also attacked the police and the municipal authorities over Thursday's incident involving the removal of a billboard at the party office on Camac Street.

Warning the BJP, he said, "Inflict only as much oppression as you are capable of enduring."

"The Trinamool Congress would not bow down even if the CBI, ED, CID, STF and state police were deployed against it simultaneously," he said.

Drawing a comparison between welfare schemes of the erstwhile TMC regime and the current BJP dispensation, Abhishek claimed that Mamata Banerjee's "single-engine" government assisted more beneficiaries than what the "double-engine" state-and-central government was able to provide.

"The Mamata Banerjee government gave Lakshmir Bhandar assistance to 2.5 crore women in West Bengal, while the BJP dispensation is struggling to provide Annapurna Yojana benefits to 1.5 crore beneficiaries," Banerjee said.

The BJP government in West Bengal has launched the Annapurna Yojana to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 to eligible women, replacing the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' programme introduced by the previous TMC regime which provided a monthly assistance ranging between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500.

He alleged that although the 2016 budget had provided a Yuvashree allowance of Rs 1,500 each to 80 lakh young people, the present government had removed 75 lakh Yuvashree beneficiaries and 1 crore women from the lists.

Referring to Adhikari's claim of winning "208" seats, Banerjee recalled former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's 2006 remark of "We are 235, they are 30", stating that within five years of that "arrogance", the people of Bengal had consigned the CPI(M) to history.

"In the same way, the beginning of the BJP's end had already arrived, and five years from now, they will not be found even with a telescope," he said.

Rubbishing speculations from a section of the media that he has fled the country, Banerjee said, "Do not believe anything until you see my dead body and the twin-flower flag (TMC's electoral symbol) over it. Jab tak main mara nahin, tab tak main hara nahin" (As long as I am not dead, I am not defeated)," he said.