Veteran Cong neta: We’re still paying for expelling Mamata
Times of India | 6 January 2025
Kolkata: Congress was still paying for Mamata Baner-jee's expulsion from the party, said Bengal Congress senior Pradip Bhattacharya on Saturday. Bhattacharya added that while then Pradesh Congress chief Somen Mitra is often blamed for Banerjee's expulsion, Mitra's hand was forced due to pressure from central brass. "I am not sure when and how we will get out of this deep gorge," Bhattacharya said.
Trinamool on Sunday dismissed questions as to whether Bhattacharya's statement was an attempt by state Congress to come closer to Trinamool. "Bhattacharya is a very senior neta. He was witness to the events in 1997. He spoke from his heart. But Congress in Delhi and some of its netas in Bengal, who were cohabiting with CPM then, forced this suicidal move to expel Banerjee," party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Bhattacharya, a former Pradesh Condress chief and an ex-MP, was speaking at a party programme in central Kolkata on Saturday night when he said, "The day Bengal's present CM was expelled, I received a call from Somen Mitra, then the PCC chief. He told me that Sitaram Kesri, then the Congress president, had asked him to expel Mamata... I told Somen not to do this. But his hand was forced due to immense pressure. Congress is still paying for this expulsion."
Speaking to TOI later, Bhattacharya said, "Somen was misrepresented at that time while a section of Delhi netas wanted Mamata to be expelled — the biggest mistake by Congress. The party lost its strength and became weak in Bengal... it is still struggling to cope with it."
Ghosh told reporters: "Mamata Banerjee has proved she is a party, govt and an institution by herself. People in Bengal have blessed her from the depth of their hearts. Congress failed to give Banerjee her due, and people did not accept this."
Ghosh said, "Congress tried to stop Banerjee's anti-CPM fight. They disregarded people's voices, first on July 21, 1997, and then again on Aug 9 when Congress was organising its plenary session at Netaji Indoor Stadium. Finally, they expelled Banerjee on Dec 21 and on Jan 1, 1998, Trinamool was born."
Ghosh went on to add: "Historically, a neta breaking away from Congress and politically succeeding on their own is rare. Banerjee remains the only exception. It is an unpalatable truth, but even Netaji, with his own party Forward Bloc, did not succeed politically. He is a revolutionary, a freedom fighter, but in parliamentary politics, his party did not succeed. The same was true for Pranab Mukherjee."