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‘We were called ‘chor’ because of him’: TMC MP targets Abhishek Banerjee

The outburst of Kalyan Banerjee, who has so far sided with Mamata Banerjee amid the rebellion by many of his fellow Trinamool MPs, followed Abhishek Banerjee’s move to replace him as lawyer

Kalyan Banerjee has said Mamata Banerjee must choose between Abhishek and us

Written by: Tanushree Bose

4 min readKolkataJun 11, 2026 04:57 PM IST First published on: Jun 11, 2026 at 03:06 PM IST

Mamata Banerjee must choose between Abhishek Banerjee and her trusted party leaders who are unhappy with him, Trinamool Congress MP and one of Mamata Banerjee’s trusted lieutenants Kalyan Banerjee said today. The Sreerampur MP targeted Abhishek Banerjee after he replaced them as their lawyer in the case relating to the alleged forgery of Trinamool MLAs’ signatures.

“I had said, ‘do not treat me like a dustbin’, inform me whether I will appear for the case or not. Later, they informed me that Ayan Bhattacharya will fight the case so I left the case. I have 45 years of practice,” he told the media.

Targeting Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, the veteran leader said, “It is because of him that we have to hear Chor Chor and our life is under threat. Even today, in the party’s bad days, I am beside Didi… Mamata Banerjee has to decide whether she will stay with Abhishek or us who are unhappy with him.”

Kalyan Banerjee’s explosive remarks come amid a meltdown in the Trinamool Congress in the aftermath of its crushing defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls last month. In an unravelling unparalleled in recent political history, the Mamata Banerjee-led party is struggling to survive barely a month after it was voted out of power in Bengal. The party is fighting rebellions both in the Assembly and Parliament, prompting Mamata Banerjee to seek the support of the Congress, which it once challenged within the INDIA bloc.

The outburst of Kalyan Banerjee, who has so far sided with Mamata Banerjee amid the rebellion by many of his fellow Trinamool MPs, followed Abhishek Banerjee’s move to replace him as his lawyer.

Sirsanya Banerjee, advocate and Kalyan Banerjee’s son, said they had decided to withdraw their names from the petition by Abhishek Banerjee in Calcutta High Court. “From May 5, we have been appearing in court in party matters. Around 1 am yesterday, we were informed that someone else will appear. So we made a conscious decision to avoid humiliation. Abhishek Banerjee did not call, his lawyer informed us. I am definitely hurt. But I am still part of TMC. TMC is not Abhishek Banerjee, TMC is Mamata Banerjee and its workers.”

What is the case

Abhishek Banerjee has challenged a notice from The Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal Police, asking him to appear in a case related to the alleged forgery of the signatures of Trinamool MLAs on a communication endorsing Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the party’s choice for Leader of the Opposition in Assembly.

Trinamool MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha had filed a complaint with Speaker Rathindra Bose, alleging that their signatures on a party resolution were forged.

Following an initial inquiry, an FIR was registered and the CID took over. The CID recorded statements from 13 Trinamool and three – Baharul Islam, Arup Roy and Subhasis Das – disowned their signatures on the document. Following Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s remarks on the issue, the Trinamool leadership expelled Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha for anti-party activities.

Abhishek Banerjee is drawing fire from Trinamool leaders after Bengal debacle

The Trinamool meltdown

The expulsion of Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha was followed by a massive crisis in the Trinamool Congress. Fifty-eight of the party’s 80 MLAs rebelled against the leadership and backed Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader.

Before Mamata Banerjee could contain the crisis in Kolkata, another front opened up. In Delhi, senior MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed that 20 out of 28 Trinamool Lok Sabha MPs want to be recognised as a separate bloc and align with NDA.

And now, three out of the party’s 13 Rajya Sabha MPs – Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik – have quit and more are likely to follow suit.

After Kalyan Banerjee’s remarks, Ritabrata Banerjee told The Indian Express, “What we had said earlier, he is saying now after being personally affected.”