Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee wants you to see his scarred face. He refuses to play coy.
The MP put up a picture of his face, cut in half: a curved thin eyebrow curves over a wide-open eye. A reddish tint below the eye ends just above his nostril. And a shadow beard covers his face.
The picture carries a message.
"The scar tells you I've been through something. The eyes tell you I'm nowhere done!" reads the accompanying message with the stark portrait of his half face.
The picture Abhishek Banerjee put up on his Instagram story
The political signalling is clear: he will not give in.
In the recent past, Abhishek Banerjee has faced a barrage of attacks, including action by investigative agencies, multiple life-threatening attacks, an attempt to murder, vandalism of his office.
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the 38-year-old MP to travel abroad for three weeks for medical treatment of his eye, setting aside the Calcutta High Court's refusal to relax the restriction on his foreign travel. Banerjee had moved a plea seeking lifting of conditions being imposed upon him by the Calcutta High Court in an alleged hate speech case.
It was the second time Banerjee approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to travel abroad. On his earlier plea, the top court had asked the Calcutta High Court to decide his request to travel abroad. The High Court subsequently declined to lift the travel restriction, prompting Banerjee to approach the Supreme Court again.
The Chief Justice Surya Kant-led Bench expressed its disinclination to entertain the objections raised by the West Bengal government against Banerjee's overseas travel, observing that every individual has a right to travel abroad and choose his medical treatment.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the West Bengal government, opposed the plea, submitting that there were several cases registered against Banerjee and expressing apprehension that he might not return if permitted to travel abroad.
The top court asked Banerjee to submit details of his itinerary, including his place of residence in the foreign country, the doctors or hospital where he proposes to undergo treatment, the period of his stay and flight details.
Banerjee had first approached the Calcutta High Court on June 23, seeking permission to travel abroad for seven days for ophthalmic treatment. He stated that he had been undergoing treatment in the United States for nearly a decade following a serious eye injury suffered in a road accident in October 2016.
The accident occurred while Banerjee was returning to Kolkata from a political programme in Murshidabad district. He subsequently underwent treatment at hospitals in India and abroad.
Earlier this month, the West Bengal CID arrested Abhishek Banerjee's personal assistant Sumit Roy in connection with a land scam case.
In June, the Enforcement Directorate questioned Abhishek Banerjee in connection with a probe into the alleged primary school recruitment scam.
Just days before the Bengal election results, Banerjee was pushed, heckled, chased, and attacked by the public with eggs while he was visiting the family of party workers affected by post-poll violence in Sonarpur in South 24 Paraganas. The crowd charged at him with 'chor, chor' slogans. Stones flew in too, and he was made to wear a cricket helmet and moved to safety by the cops amid a sea of people trying to push and grab him.
Abhishek Banerjee was attacked during his visit to Sonarpur right before Bengal poll results
Then there's the churn in the party to deal with.
The resentment and division within the Trinamool since the defeat in the Assembly elections has been deepening by the day. Sources say that the leaders' anger is directed at party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
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