After criticising his colleagues, who are a part of the West Bengal Cabinet under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee has backtracked his statement, apologising for his remarks.
Taking to social media platform X on Saturday, Kalyan said, “I apologize for generalising my comments to all the ministers. I now realize that leaders like Sobhondev Chatterjee and others were upset by my remarks, which was never my intention. I have great respect for Sobhondeb da and all other senior leaders. I regret causing any hurt. While I do have grievances with a few ministers, I will express them within the party in a constructive manner. (sic)”
A senior leader of TMC said, “The party’s top leadership was not happy about Kalyan’s statement. That is why Kalyan was forced to seek an apology.”
An MP from the Serampore Lok Sabha constituency and a member of the TMC’s disciplinary committee, Kalyan Banerjee, had said on Saturday, “I am here because Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is here. Otherwise, I would quit (the party). After seeing the conduct and behaviour of Didi’s ministers, I no longer want to stay in the party.”
The controversy started after Education Minister Bratya Basu changed the formation of TMC’s state education cell. Some leaders like Maidul Islam and Sonali Banerjee were removed from the cell, following which they stated that they were removed because they were “close” to Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Citing this, Kalyan had said, “Those people are not doing the right thing. I want to convey to those people via the media that they should restrain themselves from this comment otherwise Abhishek’s position will not be very good in the party.” He then added, “They should understand whatever decision was taken was under the direction of Mamata Banerjee.”
Senior members of the state cabinet expressed their displeasure at Kalyan’s statement, as per TMC sources. TMC leader and parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said, “If he sees my behaviour and he does not want to be in the party, then I will leave the party. I won’t stay if my behaviour feels bad or if someone else is affected. I consider myself as a lower level leader and never tried to distance myself from the soil.”