The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seized on the internal ‘rift’ within the Trinamul Congress (TMC) parliamentary party, sharing alleged WhatsApp screenshots of TMC MPs trading barbs, to launch a fresh political offensive.
On Tuesday, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya posted the purported screenshots on his social media handle, asking, “Who is this versatile international lady?”—a reference to a comment made by a senior TMC MP about a female colleague on the party’s WhatsApp group.
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The rift appears to have been triggered by an unusual proposal—TMC MP Kirti Azad reportedly began lobbying for a Bengali sweet outlet named “Sondesh,” allegedly run by the wife of a Bengali bureaucrat at Chittaranjan Park in Delhi, to be opened inside Parliament premises. Azad also began collecting signatures from fellow TMC Lok Sabha MPs to support the move. The initiative didn’t sit well with TMC’s chief whip in Lok Sabha, Kalyan Banerjee, who confronted Azad, questioning why the party should push for a private sweet shop instead of promoting the state-backed ‘Biswa Bangla’ brand. This led to a heated exchange between the two MPs. When asked about the matter at a Press conference, Banerjee confirmed the spat, stating: “Yes, I said it. Why should we campaign for an unknown sweet shop? I’d have no objection if it were for Biswa Bangla.”
Azad, however, denied the incident, calling it “untrue”. The tension didn’t end there. The following day, another clash erupted—this time outside the Election Commission’s office in Delhi—between Banerjee and Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra. TMC sources claimed the altercation stemmed from poor coordination. Moitra reportedly shouted for security to arrest Banerjee after a heated exchange, accusing him of harassment. Azad allegedly backed Moitra during the confrontation, further provoking Banerjee. Back on the party’s WhatsApp group, Banerjee is said to have lashed out at Azad again, accusing him of trying to “sell out the party” and vowing to “expose” him in Durgapur. “You were thrown out of the BJP for factionalism, and now you’re starting the same in TMC,” he allegedly wrote. The screenshots posted by Malviya appear to contain excerpts from this exchange. Though the authenticity of the screenshots has not been verified by The Statesman, they include the names of both Banerjee and Azad. The Trinamul Congress has not made any official statement on the issue. A woman MP has reportedly written to party chief Mamata Banerjee, seeking intervention. The letter was delivered to the chief minister’s Kalighat residence on Tuesday morning. A first-term Rajya Sabha MP from the party, reacting to the developments, commented wryly: “What’s happening in the Lok Sabha group is worse than what you’d see in a college WhatsApp chat. This has crossed into open hostility.” With the general elections approaching, the BJP is expected to capitalise on the TMC’s alleged internal strife—and it has clearly begun doing so.