Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cut “all ties” with her younger brother Swapan Banerjee Wednesday amid a high-voltage election campaign in the state.
The decision came after Swapan Banerjee, popularly known as Babun, announced that he would fight the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent from the Howrah seat, a day after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Sunday declared former Mohun Bagan footballer Prasun Banerjee its candidate for the seat.
“From today, I cut all ties with my brother; please don’t call him Mamata Banerjee’s brother,” the CM said Wednesday at a press conference in Siliguri in North Bengal, taking everyone by surprise.
She added: “I haven’t liked his work for quite some time now. You can’t always say such things publicly, but I am saying it today. Those who grow too big also become greedy. I don’t consider him my family. All ties are cut.”
Babun last appeared alongside Mamata at a TMC rally on Brigade Parade Ground Sunday. Sporting a white kurta and jeans, he had been inspecting stage preparations before Mamata arrived.
The family drama started after the TMC announced its candidates at the rally. A day later, Babun expressed his reservations about the TMC’s Howrah candidate and announced his candidature from the seat.
Mamata’s announcement in Siliguri about cutting ties caught Babun, currently in New Delhi, unawares. As rumours about further cracks between the siblings started floating, he made a sudden U-turn, saying he would be fighting the elections together with his sister.
“I am not in the BJP. I am with Mamata Banerjee. Her words are like blessings for me. Didi is my blood. I will do what Didi tells me to. I will talk to her and do what I need to,” he told ThePrint.
Before Mamata’s Siliguri press conference, he had told ABP Ananda, “Didi is my God, I am not going to the BJP. I will fight independently. I know she will not like it, but I will try to convince her.”
He had also released a video clarifying he was not joining the BJP. Introducing himself as Mamata’s brother, Babun had said the idea that he was joining the BJP was “fake news” and that he would remain loyal to Mamata.
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‘Everyone is upset with Babun’
Babun is the youngest among Mamata’s six brothers. He is the president of the Bengal Olympic Association and Bengal Hockey Association, in charge of the TMC sports wing, and a key member of the Mohun Bagan football club.
During the TMC annual general meeting in February, Babun alleged that Prasun Banerjee had misbehaved with him. In 2022, Babun, who shared the Harish Chatterjee Street address with the CM, changed his voting centre to Howrah. Those associated closely with the Mohun Bagan football club said Babun would try to show off his influence using his direct link with the chief minister, his sister, but refused to speak on the record.
Sources close to the family told ThePrint that none of Mamata’s brothers stay with her, but they all have homes near hers.
Ajit Banerjee is the eldest brother and president of the Indian Football Association. He has two daughters; the elder, Mou, is a professor.
Another brother, Amit Banerjee, is married to Lata Banerjee, and their son Abhishek Banerjee is widely seen as heir apparent in the TMC. Abhishek is married to Rujira Banerjee with whom he has a daughter, Azania, and a son, Aayansh. Abhishek’s parents have no party posts, but they are directors of the private company, Leaps and Bounds.
Mamata’s brother Samir Banerjee, known as Kartik, is the head of TMC’s Jai Hind Bahini, primarily formed for social service. His wife, Kajari Banerjee, is the latest Banerjee to set foot in politics and became Trinamool Congress councilor in Bhowanipore after winning the civic polls held in December 2021. Their son, Abesh Banerjee, is a doctor, who married his batchmate recently in Kurseong.
Mamata’s brother Subrata Banerjee, called Ganesh, has kept himself away from politics, and brother Ashim Banerjee, called Kali, passed away due to COVID-19 in May 2021. His son, Akash Banerjee, is a member of the TMC youth wing.
On Wednesday, a disappointed Mamata Banerjee recalled how she raised her siblings from a young age. “It’s not about this election. He (Babun) has harassed me during every election but now has forgotten his childhood. I should not say this, but I was telling Abhishek when my father passed away, I started working at a milk depot and earned Rs 45, which I used to raise my siblings. Maybe because I started fighting in politics (field), I couldn’t raise him (Babun),” Mamata said in Siliguri.
Mamata’s life changed after her father’s death, a story she often shares on public platforms. Her father, Promileswar Banerjee, died when she was young. Mamata wrote in her autobiography, “We didn’t face hardships when my father was alive; he was a government contractor. We had money; my father owned 12 bighas of land in his ancestral village; we had our house and even lorries.”
At 41, Mamata’s father was diagnosed with a gastric ulcer. Mamata recalled in her book that the government owed her father money for contractual work, and he tried to recover his dues to get proper treatment. “He left us after lying at PG hospital (SSKM Hospital, Kolkata) more or less without any treatment,” she wrote.
Closest to her late mother, Gayatri Devi, Mamata took charge of the family after her father’s death and has been the glue since. She advised her mother to sell off the land and give the proceeds to her elder brother to start a business. Now, her siblings are all well-settled and linked with the TMC in one way or another.
“TMC is my family, but if you say blood tie, we are a family of 32, and everyone is upset with Babun,” Mamata said in Siliguri.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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