Mamata successful in forming popular political entity which even Netaji couldn't: TMC leader

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh said party supremo Mamata Banerjee succeeded in forming a popular political party, something even Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose could not achieve in parliamentary politics.

Bose had formed the All India Forward Bloc in 1939 after resigning from the Congress.

"He is a historically significant freedom fighter but was unsuccessful in parliamentary politics after forming a party," Ghosh said on Sunday, claiming it is rare for someone to successfully form a popular political party after leaving the Congress.

He alleged that the Congress failed to recognise Banerjee’s indomitable fighting spirit. Banerjee was expelled from the Congress in 1997 following differences with the party leadership.

"But the people of Bengal did not accept her expulsion from the Congress, and that is why they gave her party the status it deserved," Ghosh said.

Ghosh's comments came after former state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya claimed on Saturday that Banerjee’s expulsion had weakened the party’s position in West Bengal.

Bhattacharya, a former MP, said that the then-state Congress chief Somen Mitra had expelled Banerjee in 1997 under instructions from the then-AICC chief, Sitaram Kesri.

Bhattacharya claimed he had advised Mitra against the decision but said the pressure from the party high command was immense. He made these remarks at an event in Kolkata during the unveiling of a bust of Mitra, who passed away in 2020.

Banerjee, currently serving her third consecutive term as West Bengal’s chief minister, formed the TMC in 1998 following her expulsion. She subsequently led the party to power in 2011, ending the 34-year rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned the timing of the comments, apparently hinting its link to the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state.