Mamata Banerjee has sought to rally Trinamool Congress legislators after the party’s heavy West Bengal election defeat, telling them that the BJP-led Central government would be “removed from power” in Delhi in the days ahead.
Her remarks at a closed-door meeting at her Kalighat residence marked one of her strongest political interventions since the Bharatiya Janata Party ended the TMC’s 15-year rule in West Bengal. The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, while the TMC was reduced to 80, a result that has reshaped the state’s political landscape and placed Banerjee’s organisation under intense internal pressure.
Banerjee, now a former West Bengal chief minister, used the meeting to signal that the TMC would not retreat from confrontation with the BJP despite its sharp loss of ground. The gathering was attended by party MLAs and senior functionaries as the TMC began assessing its post-poll strategy, internal weaknesses and the political challenge posed by the new government led by Suvendu Adhikari.
The defeat carried personal weight for Banerjee. She lost Bhabanipur, long seen as her political bastion, to Adhikari by 15,105 votes. The seat had symbolised her hold over Kolkata’s core political terrain after she used it to return to the Assembly following her 2021 loss in Nandigram. Its loss has given the BJP a powerful narrative of generational change and organisational breakthrough.
The TMC meeting also exposed unease within the party’s ranks. Several legislators questioned why the organisation had not mounted a stronger public campaign against eviction drives and what the party described as “bulldozer culture”. The leadership has now planned demonstrations at Howrah Station, Sealdah Station and Ballygunge, seeking to shift focus from electoral defeat to street mobilisation.
Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary, was asked to engage more closely with MLAs and party functionaries after some legislators complained that grievances had remained confined to closed-door discussions. His low public profile after the election had prompted speculation within political circles, particularly because of his absence from campaigning in Falta, which falls within his parliamentary constituency.
Falta has become another flashpoint for the TMC. Party candidate Jahangir Khan withdrew from the repoll scheduled for May 21 after voting there was set aside over allegations of malpractice. Some TMC legislators sought disciplinary action against him, while the BJP has used his withdrawal to argue that the opposition party has lost confidence even in areas once considered secure.
Banerjee also raised concerns that old criminal cases could be reopened against TMC workers. Chandrima Bhattacharya has been assigned to monitor such matters and assist party workers facing legal action. The TMC has already approached the Calcutta High Court over allegations of post-poll violence, seeking protection for workers and a probe into attacks on party offices and cadres.
The BJP, for its part, has moved quickly to consolidate the mandate. Adhikari’s decision to retain Bhabanipur after winning from both Bhabanipur and Nandigram has underlined the symbolic value the party attaches to defeating Banerjee on her home turf. The new administration has positioned itself as an alternative to what it called a climate of fear, corruption and political control under the TMC.
The election campaign had been shaped by anti-incumbency, disputes over electoral rolls, governance concerns, women’s safety, employment and allegations of party-level intimidation. The Special Intensive Revision of voter lists became one of the most contested issues, with the TMC alleging that deletions had affected its support base, while the BJP argued that the process curbed manipulation.
