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Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday ruled out taking back members of the Ritabrata Banerjee camp, saying they were no longer needed by the party.
Addressing the party’s annual July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee claimed that “all the thieves have left,” adding, “We have been spared.”
She alleged that central investigative agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), were being used to intimidate political leaders.
“People can be silenced through fear for some time, but not forever,” she said.
Taking a swipe at the Ritabrata camp, Banerjee described it as the BJP’s “B Team” and predicted that the faction would soon collapse.
“My message to them is: Please forgive us. We no longer need you. Stay well, prosper and live in peace,” she said, adding that the party would rebuild itself with a new generation of leaders.
Without naming BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee accused him of focusing on weakening the TMC instead of maintaining law and order.
“If I open my mouth, I will expose what you did during your 10 years in the Trinamool Congress,” she warned.
Banerjee also announced plans to tour every district of West Bengal, challenging attempts to stop her political activities.
“I will visit every district. Let me see who has the power to stop me,” she said, alleging that BJP workers had tried to prevent her from leaving her residence earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, the Congress demanded action against former West Bengal Home Secretary Manish Gupta over the 1993 police firing on Youth Congress protesters during the Writers’ Buildings march.
At its rally near Shaheed Minar, Congress leaders placed Gupta’s photograph inside a symbolic witness box, accusing him of ordering the police firing under the then Left Front government. Gupta later served as a minister in the TMC government before recently leaving the party. Congress also displayed a photograph of Banerjee from her days as a Youth Congress leader.
Several senior TMC leaders, including Kirti Azad, Babul Supriyo, Shovandeb Chattopadhyay, Rajib Kumar, Sagarika Ghose, Kalyan Banerjee, Pratima Mondal, Biman Banerjee, Sougata Roy, Mahua Moitra, Ashok Deb and Gautam Deb, attended the rally.
