Baby Chakraborty, KalimNews | June 15, 2025 | Kolkata : The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has issued a strong directive to senior leaders Anubrata Mondal and Kajal Sheikh to put aside personal differences and work cohesively to strengthen the party’s organizational base in Birbhum ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. At a high-level party meeting held on Saturday in Bhawanipore, Kolkata, the state leadership emphasized that any internal discord affecting electoral performance will not be tolerated and could result in consequences for those responsible.

State party president Subrata Bakshi chaired the meeting, which included the presence of key leaders such as Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, and Asish Banerjee. Members of the Birbhum and North Kolkata core committees, along with district presidents and chairpersons, were summoned to assess preparedness for the upcoming July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally and to address organizational matters in the politically sensitive Birbhum district.

According to party sources, a separate closed-door discussion was held with both Anubrata Mondal and Kajal Sheikh prior to the main session. During this conversation, the two leaders were explicitly warned against continuing their public feud. The party leadership conveyed that mutual cooperation is essential for the success of TMC in the forthcoming elections and that any public disagreements, especially those involving derogatory language, would not be condoned.

This firm stance follows recent controversies involving Anubrata Mondal, who was caught in a viral audio clip allegedly using abusive language during a phone call with a police officer. Within hours of the incident gaining traction on social media, the party directed Mondal to issue a public apology, which he complied with. Law enforcement has since registered a criminal case against him under non-bailable charges.

The party also expressed concern over statements made in the media by both leaders and urged them to refrain from making any comments that could reflect poorly on the organization. Senior leaders such as Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and Firhad Hakim reiterated the party’s commitment to maintaining internal discipline and contrasted TMC’s swift action against such behavior with what they described as inaction by other political parties in similar situations.

Amid ongoing efforts to revamp the party’s structure in Birbhum, the Trinamool Congress recently dissolved the post of district president, forming instead a seven-member core committee to manage district affairs. This organizational reshuffle is part of a broader strategy to decentralize leadership and avoid factional dominance in key regions.

Saturday’s developments underscore the TMC leadership’s intent to present a unified front and avoid any perception of internal division as the state heads toward a crucial electoral contest. The emphasis on discipline, cooperation, and accountability signals a clear message from the party’s top brass that electoral success hinges on collective effort and cohesion.

Baby Chakraborty, KalimNews, June 15, 2025, Kolkata :   Sudeep Banerjee has informed that this time the poster of the July 21 rally will have only the face of Supremo Mamata Banerjee. There will be no picture of the All India General Secretary.

The Trinamool Congress has called for preparations for the July 21 rally on Saturday. In response to questions from journalists, MP Sudeep Banerjee said, “The poster of the July 21 program has been given on a pen drive from the Camac Street office. There is only Mamata Banerjee’s picture there.” At the same time, he said, “Abhishek himself said that he was not in the July 21 program. That is why only the Chief Minister’s picture will be there. Mamata’s picture was also in the Netaji Indoor meeting. The Chief Minister has repeatedly said that she is the last word of the organization. She will lead the party for another ten years.”

Did the leader want to emphasize once again that Mamata alone has the final say in the party?

The Trinamool Congress has decided that only the image of party supremo Mamata Banerjee will feature on all official posters for the July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally, as national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has opted out, stating he wasn’t part of the original movement in 1993.

The decision of Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew and widely regarded as the party’s second-in-command, to opt out of the poster has raised eyebrows across political circles, sparking speculation about internal party dynamics.

Senior TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay confirmed the move on Saturday following a meeting held at the party’s Bhabanipur office here. “The poster for the July 21 rally contains only Mamata Banerjee’s photograph. Abhishek Banerjee himself said his photo should not be there as he was not part of the original movement in 1993,” Bandyopadhyay, the party’s leader in Lok Sabha, told reporters.

According to party leaders, Banerjee entered politics as a member of the TMC in 2011 and was eventually made the president of Trinamool Yuva, which was later merged with Trinamool Youth Congress.

The announcement comes amid a history of intra-party debates over the prominence of leaders in posters. The controversy dates back to November 2023 when only Mamata’s image featured in the background of a major rally at Netaji Indoor Stadium. At that time, party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had publicly questioned the omission of Abhishek’s image, stirring internal debates.

Earlier this year, the issue flared up again over a TMC calendar distributed among various party offices. Abhishek’s image was subsequently omitted from major party events, including the February rally at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

“This time, we aim for a record-breaking turnout. We will set a benchmark for how a single party can organise such a massive rally in the heart of a city,” Bandyopadhyay said, adding that party leaders, including state president Subrata Bakshi, have issued clear directives to district units to ensure maximum mobilisation.

The July 21 ‘Martyrs Day’ rally is observed annually by TMC to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing in 1993, when Mamata Banerjee, then a Youth Congress leader, had launched a march to the secretariat, demanding that voters’ card be made the sole document to allow people to exercise their franchise.

Amid preparations for the rally, another political subplot unfolded on Saturday as two heavyweight leaders from Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal and Kajal Sheikh, were asked to attend a closed-door meeting with top TMC leaders. Both leaders have been embroiled in a factional feud in the politically volatile Birbhum district. While Kajal Sheikh arrived earlier, Anubrata — popularly known as ‘Kesto’ — joined the meeting shortly before 1 PM.

Baby Chakraborty | KalimNews  | Kolkata | June 13, 2025 : Fresh political unrest has erupted in West Bengal following communal clashes in Maheshtala, South 24 Parganas, where allegations surfaced of vandalism at a local temple and an adjacent Tulsi platform. The incident has triggered strong reactions from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose top leaders were detained by police while attempting to protest near Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat on Thursday.

According to reports, BJP’s West Bengal unit president and Union Minister of State Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, General Secretary Jagannath Chatterjee, Purulia MP Jyotirmoy Mahato, and other party workers were intercepted en route to Maheshtala by the Kolkata Police. The group was later detained in Kalighat during a demonstration outside the CM’s residence. They were released hours later.

In a post on social media platform X, Dr. Majumdar criticised the police, writing, “Just yesterday, the same West Bengal Police were forced to wave white cloths in surrender before radical elements in Rabindranagar — spineless, helpless, and humiliated. And today, suddenly, they appear as warriors — zealously following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s orders with blind obedience.”

Majumdar further alleged that “radical fundamentalists run amok” in the state, and accused the administration of suppressing dissent through police action. He wrote that BJP leaders and karyakartas were “shamelessly arrested — a naked display of administrative tyranny.”

The BJP’s protest was in response to incidents that occurred a day earlier in Maheshtala, where clashes reportedly resulted in the vandalism of a Shiva temple, damage to vehicles, and injuries to police personnel. BJP leaders claimed the violence was targeted and communal in nature, and demanded the immediate reconstruction of the Tulsi stage near the Rabindranagar police station.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also met with Governor C.V. Ananda Bose at Raj Bhavan to brief him on the situation. In a post on X, Adhikari alleged that police deliberately failed to contain the violence for fear of political backlash. “Instead, they stood by as miscreants attacked Hindus, vandalised a Shiva temple, torched bikes and vehicles, and pelted stones under the nose of Rabindranagar Police Station,” he wrote.

Adhikari dismissed the official description of the violence as a local dispute over illegal construction and called the incident a continuation of communal unrest that has plagued areas like Malda and Murshidabad in recent months. “Where is the accountability for your failure?” he asked.

The BJP claimed that the Chief Minister has remained silent on the issue, accusing her of appeasement politics and neglecting the safety of the Hindu community. Attempts to reinstall a symbolic Tulsi Manch by BJP workers were reportedly blocked by police, leading to further political friction.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Police confirmed that 40 people had been arrested in connection with the Maheshtala incident. Authorities have filed three separate cases under relevant legal provisions and said that they are closely monitoring the situation to prevent further escalation.

In a statement on X, West Bengal Police urged political leaders to refrain from visiting the violence-hit zones, stating, “The situation is under control. Any provocative action may disrupt peace and order.”

As political tensions rise, Maheshtala remains under increased security surveillance. The broader implications of the violence and the state’s response continue to fuel debate between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, highlighting the deepening polarisation in Bengal’s political landscape.