Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pays tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on the occasion of Rabindra Jayanti in Kolkata on May 9, 2026. | Photo credit: ANI
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (May 9, 2026) called on all opposition parties in West Bengal to come together and form a “common platform” to fight the BJP, which came to power in the state after the recently held assembly elections.
The former chief minister also called upon student unions of various anti-BJP affiliations and NGOs to unite against the saffron camp.
Her statements came on the day the state’s first BJP government was sworn in.
“I call on all opposition parties, including the Left and the ultra-Left, to come together and form a common platform against the BJP,” Ms. Banerjee said, calling on national parties to join as well.
The TMC chief said that she will talk to any political party if they want to have a dialogue with her in this regard.
“This is no time to think that the enemy is my friend, our first enemy is the BJP,” she said while addressing a small gathering outside her residence in Kalighat while celebrating the birth anniversary of poet Rabindranath Tagore.
She alleged that atrocities were committed against TMC workers and supporters across the state after the Assembly election results were announced.
Ms. Banerjee said, “There is hooliganism going on in some places, bad elements have entered their (BJP) ranks.” The former CM claimed that after assuming power in 2011, she did not allow atrocities against anyone.
The BJP stormed to power in West Bengal, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly to form its first government in the state, while the TMC secured 80 seats.
Ms Banerjee said she was contacted by leaders of all opposition parties after the Bengal poll results were announced and said, “Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke to me.”
Expressing gratitude to all of them, she said other leaders like UBT Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav sent her messages while SP leader Akhilesh Yadav came to Kolkata and met her after the results.
Ms. Banerjee said Congress leaders and advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Menaka Guruswamy, who represented the TMC government in various matters before the Supreme Court as well as the Calcutta High Court, spoke to her over phone to express their solidarity.
“I am also a senior advocate enrolled at the Calcutta High Court Bar and the West Bengal Bar Council,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee said that TMC is starting its new journey on Tagore’s birth anniversary.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party will be the main opposition in the West Bengal Assembly after staying in power for 15 years since 2011.
Alleging that atrocities were being inflicted on TMC workers and supporters across the state, Banerjee said, “Hooliganism is happening at places, bad elements have entered”. The former chief minister claimed that after assuming power in 2011, she did not allow atrocities against anyone.
“They (BJP) have withdrawn the security allotted to us since the day they won,” Banerjee said.
“I don’t want anyone’s sympathy because we are the ones who won the battle; in the future it will be shown that we were defeated wrongly,” she said.
Alleging that most TMC workers and leaders faced threats from the BJP, Banerjee alleged that party MP Mahua Moitra was harassed while she was boarding a flight to Delhi from Kolkata.
Banerjee alleged that some goons created trouble outside the residences of her and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is also her nephew.
Published – 09 May 2026 19:04 IST
