'I’ll live to see your end': Mamata Banerjee targets BJP after Madan Mitra joins TMC rebel camp

Published 15 July 2026 · politics

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, alleging political persecution and accusing the ruling

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, alleging political persecution and accusing the ruling party of using central agencies to engineer defections after senior leader Madan Mitra joined a rebel faction, Hindustan Times reported. Speaking during a Facebook Live session, Banerjee claimed the BJP wanted her to suffer a heart attack but asserted that she would outlast her political rivals. “BJP wished for me to get a heart attack. I will live till I see your end,” she said. Mitra, who switched allegiance to the rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee, said he had “only changed my room in the Assembly” after the party refused to accept his demand that TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee “step aside for six months,” according to the report.

Mamata defends Abhishek Banerjee Responding to Mitra’s exit, Banerjee said the decision had nothing to do with Abhishek Banerjee. Instead, she alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned Mitra’s wife and two sons, prompting his departure. She said Abhishek had become an “excuse” for repeated attacks on the party and praised him for continuing the political fight despite legal scrutiny involving his family. “His family members were summoned. Had he wanted, he could have got relief. But he did not run away from the battlefield. The way he has continued to fight, all his flaws have been forgiven,” she said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Also Read | Wild start to earnings season lays bare the great AI divide 'Those who joined rebel camp are afraid of police' Banerjee apologised to the people of West Bengal “on behalf of the traitors” and said she had never compromised her conscience for political survival. The TMC chief alleged that she and her family had been subjected to sustained political persecution because they refused to compromise. “Had I compromised, we would not have faced so much torture. Those who have compromised have many bags and luggage of their own,” she said in an apparent swipe at leaders who have switched sides. She further claimed that the BJP was using investigative agencies and the police to engineer defections, alleging that several leaders had crossed over out of fear.

“We still have 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Those Parliamentarians who have joined the ‘setting company’ have done so because they are afraid of the police,” she claimed. Reacting to Mitra’s resignation, TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay expressed regret over his departure, saying there had been no need for him to quit.