Mamata Calls for INDIA Bloc Unity Against BJP, Rules Out Return of TMC Rebels

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called on all constituents of the INDIA bloc in West Bengal, including the Congress and the CPI(M), to set aside their differences and unite against the BJP, while ruling out any reconciliation with rebels within her own party.

Addressing the annual July 21 Martyrs' Day rally near Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, Banerjee said the battle against the BJP was larger than individual egos or political differences. Without naming the Congress or CPI(M), she urged opposition parties to come together under the INDIA alliance banner to take on the BJP in the state.

“I have no ego. I urge others also to keep aside their differences and fight together,” Banerjee said, in an apparent appeal to her INDIA bloc partners, with whom the TMC has maintained strained ties in West Bengal despite being part of the national opposition alliance.

Her appeal for opposition unity came amid a deepening split within the TMC. While Banerjee's faction held its Martyrs' Day programme near Birla Planetarium, a breakaway group led by Ritabrata Banerjee organised a parallel rally on Mayo Road, highlighting the organisational crisis within the party.

Banerjee, however, adopted a hardline stance towards the dissidents, branding them “traitors” and accusing them of functioning as BJP proxies. She challenged the rebels to formally join the BJP and contest elections rather than allegedly supporting it from within the TMC.

The TMC chief also ruled out taking back those who had joined the BJP, asserting that her party's “twin flower” symbol could not be taken away from her as its founder-chairperson.

Banerjee announced that she would soon tour districts across West Bengal, signalling an intensified political campaign. She also alleged that the BJP had attempted to obstruct her faction's Martyrs' Day event, claiming that party workers had guarded the stage overnight.