Quit Before July 21, Says Mamata Banerjee, But Insists TMC Won't Be Weakened by Exits

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has issued a direct message to party members considering leaving the organisation: make the decision before the July 21 Martyrs' Day rally. Speaking during a Facebook Live session on Thursday, she made clear that such departures would not weaken the party she leads.

Addressing those she believes are under pressure to exit, Banerjee named several agencies and authorities, including the police, the ED, CBI, CID, local officers, and the STF, as sources of that pressure. Her advice was blunt: anyone who feels they can only survive by bowing to such pressure should go ahead and leave, even if that means joining the BJP, but she asked them not to tarnish the party built collectively over the years. She reiterated that no number of departures would leave the TMC diminished, and claimed that several of those who have already left remain quietly in touch with her.

She also drew a distinction between those capable of withstanding pressure and those who are not, suggesting sympathy rather than resentment toward departing colleagues.

Banerjee's comments came just hours after TMC Rajya Sabha MP Rukmini Mallick, widely known by her screen name Koel Mallick, resigned from the party and was seen meeting Union minister Bhupender Yadav. Banerjee revealed that Mallick had already informed the leadership of her decision via email before formally submitting her resignation in person. She spoke warmly of Mallick, calling her a respected and talented artist, and thanked her for the courtesy of an in-person resignation.

A Wider Pattern of Departures

Mallick's exit is the latest in a string of high-profile departures that have battered the party in recent months. Three former Rajya Sabha MPs, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, defected to the BJP and were subsequently handed bypoll tickets for the very seats they left vacant. In the Lok Sabha, the party's numbers have fallen sharply after 20 rebel MPs, several of them Banerjee's longtime associates such as Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, broke away to join the newly formed Nationalist Citizens Party of India and threw their support behind the BJP-led NDA.

Adding to the turmoil, a rival faction within the TMC itself, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, has been consolidating power by absorbing rebel leaders and asserting itself as the party's legitimate face. Prominent figures once seen as close to Mamata Banerjee, including Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, and most recently Madan Mitra, have aligned with this breakaway group, deepening what has become an open internal battle for the party's identity.

Allegations Involving Martyrs' Families

Banerjee went on to allege that families connected to the July 21 martyrs are being contacted by police and pressured to skip her rally in favour of an event organised by the rival faction, which she referred to as a BJP-sponsored effort. She claimed these families were being offered money and gifts as incentives to switch allegiance.

Speaking directly to them, she said she had honoured these families for four decades and did not blame them for succumbing to pressure this year, framing fear, financial temptation, and agency pressure as temporary forces that would not erase their long history together. She appealed to the state administration to remain neutral and warned that political developments in Delhi could eventually reshape the situation in Bengal.

Framing the Rally as a Fresh Start

Banerjee described the upcoming July 21 gathering as a new beginning for the party and those who choose to stand with her, comparing the moment to the TMC's founding in 1997 and expressing confidence that the party could rebuild itself again despite attempts to erase its name and symbol.

Remarks on the NEET Controversy

Separately, Banerjee criticised the central government for failing to engage with activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike for 19 days demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the leaked NEET-UG examination paper.

Read More: Celebrity TMC MP Koel Mallick Resigns From Rajya Sabha In Another Jolt To Mamata Banerjee