Past statements ‘expose’ TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee’s penchant for controversies

New Delhi, Nov 17 Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee has a penchant for attracting controversies and repeatedly landing his adversaries with below-the-belt jabs – irrespective of the person being from his party or not.

In a recent bout of that aggressiveness, he has taken on West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, publicly alleging that he was “sheltering BJP-backed criminals” and supplying arms and bombs from the Raj Bhavan to attack TMC workers.

Rejecting the charge, the Governor has sought legal opinion and has even ordered a formal combing of his official residence in Kolkata by security agencies, including the bomb squad and sniffer dogs. An FIR has also been reportedly lodged by the Raj Bhavan.

This is not the first time that Banerjee has targeted the Raj Bhavan; there have been earlier occasions where he has made public barbs at its current occupant, calling him a “stooge of the BJP” and challenging his conduct that has provoked sharp pushback from the Governor’s office.

The clash has sharpened Centre‑state and institutional tensions in West Bengal politics and put Banerjee at the centre of a high‑profile confrontation with a constitutional officeholder. Several reports highlight Banerjee’s habit of blunt, confrontational statements – whether in Parliament or on the streets, in party or public forums – which periodically generate controversy and then force the leadership into damage control.

In August, Banerjee had to step down from the post of the party’s chief whip in Lok Sabha, citing humiliation and unfair targeting by some colleagues. He has been involved in confrontations with other TMC MPs after which he reportedly framed the resignation as owning responsibility, after party Chairperson Mamata Banerjee pointed out a lack of coordination among the Parliamentarians in a meeting.

Perhaps among the worst clashes witnessed in New Delhi was his spat with fellow MP Mahua Moitra that involved the exchange of some expletives. Some media reports had linked his resignation to a fallout of that war of attrition.

The spat snowballed into a major controversy with video footage leaking out on social media, where the adversaries were seen squabbling inside the Election Commission of India office. This was followed by an outburst on a closed WhatsApp chat group, which again leaked out. Mamata had to step in and direct the MPs, mainly the three involved in the spat, not to comment on the issue publicly.

Banerjee, an advocate himself, has faced formal and informal pushbacks, including the leadership’s intervention, legal notices, among others, that have brought him under media scrutiny. Mamata’s nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is the party’s General Secretary and usually attends to organisational work, is said to have been averse to him being chosen again to represent the TMC from the Sreerampur Lok Sabha constituency in 2024.

Mamata, reportedly having stood with him that time, is said to have been lately exasperated with the MP’s repeated confrontations. In a fit of rage during the course of a Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting, he once broke a glass, injuring himself.

He has also mimicked the then Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in front of cameras during a protest outside Parliament. This incident drew wide attention and criticism, with Dhankhar labelling the mimicry as “ridiculous” and “unacceptable”.

According to party sources, he has earlier been ticked off both by Mamata and Abhishek, where the latter is now the leader of the Lok Sabha.

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