Rajib meets Kalyan, seeks ‘forgiveness’ for joining BJP
Times of India | 10 March 2025
123 Serampore: Former Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee, whose pre-poll move to BJP in 2021 and subsequent post-poll ‘ghar wapsi' continues to cause unease in Trinamool Congress ranks, met MP Kalyan Banerjee at his Serampore home on Sunday to "seek forgiveness for his mistake".
Along with Rajib, former Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghosal, who also joined BJP only to return after the 2021 assembly poll defeat, met Kalyan and embraced him to ease the tension. The assembly seats lost by the duo — Rajib's Domjur and Ghosal's Uttarpara — both fall within Kalyan's Lok Sabha constituency of Serampore.
After Rajib and Ghosal's move to BJP, Kalyan, a four-time MP, had led the Trinamool charge in Domjur and Uttarpara, where both contested on a BJP ticket. The political animosity did not ebb with their return to Trinamool, with Kalyan repeatedly questioning why Rajib was re-inducted. Kalyan had also refused to share a stage with Rajib after the latter rejoined Trinamool.
On Sunday, Kalyan told reporters: "The 2026 assembly elections are approaching, and we must work together with everyone. The party will decide who gets what responsibility later. I had no personal problems with Rajib. My only grievance was that he had left Trinamool. The party had never wronged him, he got everything from it."
"The two leaving just before the 2021 elections undoubtedly caused difficulties. I worked hard to recover from that situation. But now those who left have returned, and Didi has accepted them, so why should I say anything? He came to me with respect, and that means a lot. There is a lot of work to be done," he added.
Speaking to reporters, Rajib said: "He (Kalyan) is my elder brother. He had reason to be upset with me when I left the party. Between brothers, there will be love, anger, complaints and grievances. It felt good to meet and warmly embrace him today. Now we are in the same party."
Rajib won the Domjur assembly seat in 2011 and 2016, when he was with Trinamool, but lost it for the first time in 2021 when he contested for BJP. Similarly, Ghosal won Uttarpara assembly in the 2016 assembly polls with a Trinamool ticket but lost it in 2021 assembly on a BJP ticket.