Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee highlighted that he was "extremely hurt" over the reported spat with party chief Mamata Banerjee for exceeding his allotted time during his speech at the faction's Martyrs Day rally on Tuesday. Reports claimed that the TMC MP had a verbal exchange with the party supremo before he walked away from the dais.
Kalyan spoke for around 22-and-a-half minutes at the faction's Martyrs Day rally near Birla Planetarium, a report in news agency PTI stated. As per sources in the Mamata camp, there was an unusually long list of speakers at the rally, and everyone was asked to keep their speech brief to accommodate everyone.
During his speech, Kalyan launched a blistering attack on the BJP and on the breakaway TMC faction, which is led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee. "Mamata Banerjee alone is the Trinamool. The BJP-backed stage has been set up there, but the workers are not with them. Those BJP-sponsored MLAs dreaming of taking over are only digging their own grave," he said.
'I am extremely hurt by such behaviour': Kaylan
However, the TMC MP has rejected the claims of exceeding his time and stated that he was "extremely hurt". "I did not exceed my time. While I was speaking, Abhishek Banerjee entered the stage, so I had to stop. Then Didi entered, and I again paused my speech. I never exceeded my time. But I don't deserve such humiliation. I am extremely hurt by such behaviour. I am fighting so hard for the party when all others have left. I don't deserve this," he told PTI.
He replied in the negative when asked whether he spoke to Mamata after the row and retorted over the question of whether he will leave the Mamata camp with, "What sort of question is this?"
TMC forced to drop some leaders' speeches: Sources
Meanwhile, the report added that the episode forced the TMC to drop speeches of several scheduled speakers. This included speeches from Lok Sabha MPs Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen and Sagarika Ghose, and Rajeev Kumar. The party has not given an official statement on this.
The development is significant as Kalyan is among the few senior TMC leaders who have remained loyal to Mamata following the party's split after the BJP's victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
While several prominent leaders once considered close to Mamata Banerjee—including Firhad Hakim, Mala Roy and Chandrima Bhattacharya—joined the rival faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee, Kalyan continued to be regarded as one of her closest political confidants. He has regularly attended meetings at her residence and emerged as one of the party's most vocal critics of the breakaway camp.
Meanwhile, in a separate row, Kalyan was suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the Monsoon Session for allegedly using "unsavoury" language against women members after he had a heated exchange with NCPI members in the Lower House chamber. The Monsoon Session ends on August 13.
(With PTI Inputs)
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