Will resign within hour if rebel Trinamool leaders join back Didi: Abhishek Banerjee

Published 18 July 2026 · politics

Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday (July 18, 2026) challenged rebel Trinamool leaders, who have blamed him for the party’s downfall, to return

Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday (July 18, 2026) challenged rebel Trinamool leaders, who have blamed him for the party’s downfall, to return to the party and join “Didi”, saying he would resign within an hour if they did. “Those who left the party and are now abusing or blaming me today…I challenge them to return to Didi (as former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is referred to). If they do, I will resign from the party within an hour. But they won’t. They have made a deal with the BJP: leave the party, join the rebel camp or the BJP, take protection from the ED, the CBI and other agencies and then blame and abuse Abhishek Banerjee,” Mr. Banerjee said while addressing the press outside former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat.

The Diamond Harbour MP said those who believed they could burn down the Trinamool Congress must remember that the party would rebuild from the same fire with Didi leading the way. Since the party’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election on May 4, several top Trinamool leaders have openly criticised Mr. Banerjee, accusing him of “corporatising“ the party and relying excessively on political consulting firm I-PAC. Many of these leaders who criticised Mr. Banerjee have already joined the rebel Trinamool faction, and some have also crossed over to the BJP. Abhishek’s office bulldozed Earlier in the day, one of Mr. Banerjee’s Trinamool offices in Amtala, within his Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, was bulldozed over allegations of illegal construction.

Three bulldozers were deployed to raze down the structure as a large crowd gathered at the site, with some raising slogans against the Trinamool leader. Rejecting the allegations, Mr. Banerjee stated the party had purchased the land and constructed the office, and it would submit necessary documents in the court. “They have razed the whole place. Not just local administration, but BJP leaders and goons also created a ruckus inside the party office. We have videos of all of this. We will go to the Supreme Court,” Mr. Banerjee said. He added that the party had sent an email about the demolition to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice’s Officer on Special Duty, adding they would take action against those identified in the videos.

Banerjee went on to say that the demolition of the party office revealed the “real face” of the BJP and that the action would not be able to weaken the Trinamool Congress, but only make it stronger.