Abhishek Banerjee brushes off Kalyan’s criticism, says ‘he has the right to express his views’

Trinamool Congress national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday attempted to defuse a growing controversy within the party after senior leader Kalyan Banerjee launched a sharp attack on him over the handling of a legal matter.

Notably, TMC has been grappling with visible signs of internal friction and a series of recent exits from the Rajya Sabha.

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Responding to Kalyan Banerjee’s criticism, Abhishek chose not to escalate the dispute and stressed their long personal association.

“Kalyan Banerjee is older than me. He has the right to express his views. He has seen me since my childhood. I won’t speak anything against him,” he said.

Kalyan alleges he was bypassed in court case

The row stems from a signature forgery case in which Kalyan Banerjee had been representing Abhishek Banerjee.

Earlier, Kalyan accused Abhishek of appointing another lawyer without consulting him. He questioned the decision to file a separate petition after he had already pursued the matter before the court.

Explaining his grievance, Kalyan said he had spent several hours waiting for the case to be taken up before a vacation bench and later mentioned its urgency before the judge.

“Six hours I sat for that matter. The matter was not called on; in the end, I mentioned it before the Honourable judge. The Honourable judge said that the matter will come up on Wednesday,” he said.

He also referred to developments following a search operation and questioned why a fresh petition had been filed without informing him.

“Yesterday, a lawyer came saying Abhishek Banerjee had sent him. Then said that another writ petition has been filed regarding the search. I had already mentioned the matter in the criminal revision. Why did you file the petition without consulting me?” Kalyan asked.

Senior TMC leader issues ultimatum

In his strongest remarks, Kalyan Banerjee publicly challenged party chief Mamata Banerjee to choose between him and Abhishek Banerjee.

The veteran leader described Abhishek as “arrogant” and alleged that the current tensions within the party were linked to him.

Kalyan also said he had spoken to senior TMC leader Derek O’Brien about the issue but had not received a call from Mamata Banerjee.

“Derek called me, and I informed him. Didi has not called me. I will be taking up other persons’ and Trinamool Congress matters. He (Abhishek Banerjee) is not Trinamool Congress,” he said.

The public exchange comes as the Trinamool Congress continues to face questions over internal factionalism, with multiple Rajya Sabha members having recently resigned from the party.