Had I compromised and gone for ‘setting’, wouldn’t have seen such days of torment: Mamata
Times of India | 16 July 2026
Kolkata: Had she gone for some “setting”, neither she nor her party would have been forced “to face torment”, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. In a Facebook Live session, the former CM said she had never compromised on her principles and will never do so. Banerjee said she would start her political struggle anew this year.
“If I had done some setting for myself, I wouldn’t have had to put up with this torment. But I have not sold my conscience for political survival,” said Banerjee before apologising to the people on behalf of “traitors”. “Those who have compromised have baggage of their own,” she said and added, “MLAs and MPs who joined the ‘setting company’ have done so because they are afraid.”
Claiming that thousands of TMC workers were languishing in jail on fake cases, Banerjee said, “Cops are telling workers to either join the compromised party or go to jail... I bow my head in respect for those who are in jail.”
Banerjee also hit back at detractors targeting Abhishek Banerjee. She said, “Abhishek has become very bad in your eyes, but that is actually just an excuse for you to leave the party. When his wife went to appear for questioning at the CBI office carrying their baby in her arms, where were your principles? Today, 25 to 30 cases have been filed against him, but he has not left the field. Instead of bowing his head, he is fighting like a tiger.”
Stating that three generations of Trinamool have been created and that new faces were joining the party, Banerjee claimed that she would be around to “see the end of BJP”.
The former CM said that even if her party was not being allowed to hold meetings in respective areas, the meetings can continue at her residence. “I held a meeting of Howrah today, yesterday a similar meeting for Behala was held and a day before it was Garden Reach. I built the party from here,” said Banerjee.
Without naming BJP, Banerjee alleged that cops and central agencies were being used as tools to break Trinamool. “They are using fear and threats to dismantle municipal boards and capture panchayats. I have repect for police. But the ICs and OCs are acting as unit party presidents and the SPs as the district presidents,” alleged the former CM.
Banerjee asserted that she had never shied away from public struggles, referring to her hunger strike against land acquisition and her visits to sites of major tragedies. “I was in Jhargram (when the RG Kar rape-murder case took place). I spoke to the parents and even visited their house. I hit the streets for justice,” she said.
The TMC chief also expressed solidarity with climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, saying she had spoken to him during his ongoing fast.