Trinamool Leader Claims BJP MP Threatened Him, Then Blames Party Colleagues

The internal rumblings in the Trinamool Congress have surfaced again. Kalyan Banerjee, who had resigned as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha earlier this month following a verbal battle with a woman colleague, has now targeted his party's Members in the Parliament for not backing him when he was allegedly threatened by a BJP MP two years ago.

His latest allegation featured in his response to a question on an alleged remark made by colleague Mahua Moitra against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Though he refused to comment on the matter, he slammed former BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's use of an expletive for Ms Moitra in a now-deleted post.

"What Ramesh Bidhuri has said against Mahua Moitra is not acceptable at all. Is it the culture of the BJP to attack a lady MP in this way? Ramesh Biduri had made bad remarks earlier too, and that's why he was threatened by the party, and he didn't get the ticket in 2024," Mr Banerjee told reporters today.

Read: Trinamool MP's "Apology To Nation" For Backing Colleague Mahua Moitra

It is then that he raised an incident from 2023, when Ms Moitra came under a scathing BJP attack over cash-for-query charges. The politician alleged he was threatened by BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy when he came out in support of Ms Moitra, but none of his colleagues had then backed him in the Parliament.

"For supporting Mahua Mitra, Rajiv Pratap Rudy held out threats to me, showed his muscle power, and showed his red eyes to me. Unfortunately, our deputy leader, Satabdi Roy, was silent at that time. SP MPs had come to me, but not a single one of our MPs did," Mr Banerjee told reporters on Sunday.

The Trinamool leader said he is now waiting for Mr Rudy's response, claiming that a new "composition" has emerged following the Constitution Club polls that Mr Rudy won.

Read: "Pig", "Anti-Women": After Kalyan Banerjee Vs Mahua Moitra, A Resignation

Mr Banerjee, who represents the Serampore Lok Sabha constituency in the Lok Sabha, also alleged that not all developments reach the party's leadership, claiming that there is a "filter". He did not specify if he referred to a particular MP from his party.

The 68-year-old leader's remarks had led to infighting earlier as well. He has been at the centre of a massive controversy over his remarks on a rape case in Kolkata, which drew a "misogynist" observation from Ms Moitra. The controversy had soon turned into an ugly spat, raising the temperature within the Trinamool's Delhi camp.

The matter had escalated to the level that it required the intervention of Trinamool chief and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had to urge her party MPs not to fight among themselves and focus on fighting the government on the Special Intensive Revision issue.