Bitter feuding within the Trinamool Congress spilled into the public domain on Tuesday after the BJP shared a leaked video and screenshots of a fiery exchange among prominent lawmakers of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
BJP’s IT cell incharge Amit Malviya posted a video on X claiming it shows what transpired after a heated argument between senior Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee and another unidentified party lawmaker. Malviya also posted screenshots that he claimed were from a party WhatsApp group and that showed TMC leaders arguing about the matter. Trinamool did not immediately react to the matter, but sources told India Today TV that party chief Mamata Banerjee had asked MPs to “calm down” and not “fan the crisis any further”. Separately, Kalyan Banerjee addressed the media, accusing an unnamed woman party leader of “shouting” at him and sparking the argument.
According to Malviya, the incident took place on April 4 at the Election Commission of India headquarters, where the Trinamool delegation had gone to submit a representation. In the video, Kalyan Banerjee is heard verbally lashing out at the other lawmaker, while another voice — purportedly that of Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien — tries to defuse the situation. Kalyan Banerjee says, “They are so unruly,” and, “Saying will get me arrested…” The voice believed to be O’Brien’s is heard saying, “We are in a public space brother, I’m pleading with you.”
Another person is heard warning Kalyan Banerjee: “This will get leaked in the media,” to which he responds, “Let it be, I want it to be out in the media.” Kalyan Banerjee also asserts, “But I will not allow to do any illegal work.” As the video shared by the BJP started doing the rounds, Trinamool MP Saugata Roy tacitly admitted that the other party in the spat was the party’s firebrand leader Mahua Moitra. He slammed Kalyan’s Banerjee’s “intemperate behaviour” and called it unacceptable.
Reacting to the video, Kalyan Banerjee said that when he reached the poll panel’s office, “a female MP” charged at him. “She was shouting at the top of her voice and I responded accordingly. In the meantime, she ran to the BSF and asked them to arrest me,” Banerjee alleged. Without naming any MP, Kalyan Banerjee said, “This lady has no other issue in her politics except Modi and Adani. She never challenges any other BJP leader. How dare she ask for my arrest? Who is she?” Although Saugata Roy wasn’t present when the argument took place, he stated, “I saw Mahua was crying in Parliament… She was going to complain about Kalyan’s behaviour.” The senior Trinamool leader claimed there was deep resentment among party members over Kalyan Banerjee’s conduct and called for him to be removed as Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha.