Knives out against Kalyan Banerjee, will Mamata’s ‘shield’ work again?

Lately, the 68-year-old – often mistaken for being a relative of Mamata’s, given the things they share, including a surname – has made more news for stirring up rows. Though even by those standards, his recent bruising war of words with more than one fellow TMC MP, particularly Mahua Moitra, is a first.

It started with a spat between Kalyan Banerjee and Moitra over her signature missing from a document that he, the party’s Lok Sabha chief whip, was to submit to the Election Commission last week, over the TMC’s claims regarding duplication of electoral ID numbers. While the TMC managed to keep a lid on the row, including Moitra’s reported appeal to the security personnel present to “arrest” Banerjee, the irrepressible Banerjee put it all in the open Tuesday in a reaction to a post by BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya on the matter.

At a press conference in Delhi, where he referred to Moitra not by name but as “a versatile international lady” and said she had brought little to the party but “good looks” and fluency in English, Banerjee openly took on MPs Saugata Roy and Kirti Azad. While Moitra and Azad have refused to comment, Roy demanded that Banerjee, a repeat offender in his words, be sacked as chief whip. Moitra has reportedly written to Mamata over the matter.

Roy told The Indian Express that most TMC MPs were “against Banerjee’s behaviour” and hoped Mamata would remove him as chief whip. “He is in the habit of making deprecating statements about other MPs, particularly women.”

A senior TMC leader, who is close to Mamata’s family, like Kalyan Banerjee, said: “Kalyan has always benefited from his proximity to Mamata… His graph in the TMC has also risen because of his abilities as a lawyer and his street smartness.”

Like Mamata, Banerjee too started with the Congress, after graduating in law and practising in the Calcutta High Court. His association with the Youth Congress kept him in close contact with Mamata, who headed the Congress unit. In 1998, when Mamata floated the TMC, Banerjee joined her as one of its frontline leaders.

In 2001, Banerjee won for the first time as an MLA, from Asansol. As Mamata’s star rose, so did Banerjee’s, with the latter successfully steering the TMC through several court cases the party took up – including over the controversial death of Rizwanur Rahman, the killing of 11 TMC workers in Chhoto Angaria, the custodial death of Bhikhari Paswan, and the Singur-Nandigram cases.

Correspondingly, Banerjee became a senior lawyer in the High Court and the Supreme Court.

In 2009, he moved on to Parliament, winning his first Lok Sabha election, from Sreerampore constituency. He got elected from the same seat in 2014, 2019 and 2024.

The move to the Centre meant that Banerjee’s outspoken and mercurial ways, including while speaking on the floor of the House, now made it to national limelight. The same year as he became an MP for the first time, his remarks about CPI(M) leader and then West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s personal habits drew protests from the Left.

In December 2023, Banerjee was caught on camera mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and being recorded by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Parliament premises. The incident, in the midst of a heated Session marked by numerous suspensions of MPs, invited Dhankhar’s ire, who described Banerjee’s act as “shameful, ridiculous and unacceptable”.

During the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, Banerjee found himself in a spot over his remarks on CPI(M) leader Dipsita Dhar’s complexion. At another time, he referred to Congress-turned-BJP leader and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia as “a lady killer”, and was forced to apologise.

In a Parliament speech after the Lok Sabha results last year, referring to the BJP getting only 240 seats after claiming it would get “400-plus”, Banerjee had the House in splits when he said: “Apne bola tha abki baar 400 paar… Khel shuru ho gaya tha sir… Khel to bahot saare hain sir… Chu-kit-kit (a Bengali game like kabaddi) bhi khel hai… Chu mein 400… then kit kit kit kit kit kit (You said this time 400 plus. The game started then. There are all kinds of games. Chu-kit-kit is also a game. 400 gone… all that’s left is kit kit kit).”

In October 2024, as part of the Joint Committee of Parliament considering the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Banerjee invited disciplinary action after he smashed a glass bottle during a meeting, reportedly after a heated exchange with former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay.

At the start of this year, Banerjee got into a spat over his criticism of TMC ministers in Bengal, saying: “I am here because Didi (Mamata) is here… After seeing the conduct and behaviour of Didi’s ministers, l no longer want to stay in the party.”

Forced to backtrack then, Banerjee promised: “While I do have grievances with a few ministers, I will express them within the party in a constructive manner.”

A senior Calcutta High Court says it is not a surprise that Banerjee has forgotten the promise so soon. “Kalyan Banerjee became known in the High Court for his aggressive, very outspoken nature and use of abusive language. So, we are not shocked about the controversies over his statements.”

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “TMC is a big family and sometimes such things happen in big families. Kalyan Banerjee is a big leader and may say something as he is very emotional. There is nothing to worry about. Our leadership is aware and will take proper steps.”