TMC Rift Deepens: Kalyan Says He Was Kept In Dark Over Abhishek’s CID Search Petition

Kalyan Banerjee has openly challenged Abhishek Banerjee's leadership, asking Mamata Banerjee to choose between her nephew and party veterans.

Kalyan said he was not informed about a separate writ petition linked to the CID searches.

Source : ANI

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee criticised Abhishek's arrogance and decision-making.
• Dispute stemmed from uncoordinated legal filings regarding CID searches.
• Kalyan withdrew from Abhishek's cases, questioning his leadership.

Senior TMC leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday claimed he was kept in the dark about a separate writ petition filed by Abhishek Banerjee in connection with recent CID search operations, a development that appears to have triggered a major rift within the party. The veteran parliamentarian and advocate said he was neither informed nor consulted before the petition was moved, despite representing Abhishek in a related case before the Calcutta High Court. The episode prompted Kalyan to withdraw from all legal matters concerning the TMC national general secretary and publicly challenge his leadership.

Legal Fallout

The dispute appears to have been triggered by a court matter involving CID search operations at the TMC office located at Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence and Abhishek Banerjee's Camac Street office.

Kalyan, who had been representing Abhishek in the Calcutta High Court in a signature forgery case, said he was unaware that a separate writ petition had been filed in connection with the CID searches. According to him, the two matters were linked and had already been mentioned before the bench hearing the forgery case.

He claimed that emissaries of Abhishek later informed him that a separate petition had been filed on instructions "from the top". Kalyan said he was taken aback by the development and argued that, had he been informed earlier, he would have acted differently in court.

Announcing his decision to step away from all legal matters concerning Abhishek, Kalyan said he could not work under what he described as an "arrogant" and "fluctuating mindset". However, he clarified that he would continue to fight legal cases on behalf of the TMC.

Open Challenge

The Sreerampur MP accused Abhishek of showing little regard for his four-and-a-half decades of professional experience and said he would not accept being treated as an employee.

Escalating the confrontation, Kalyan declared that he could remain in the TMC only if Abhishek was stripped of leadership responsibilities and retained merely as an ordinary party worker.

Placing the onus on Mamata Banerjee, he said the former chief minister must decide whether the party would be led by her nephew or by loyal workers who had devoted decades to building the organisation. He added that continuing in the TMC would be difficult for him if Abhishek remained in a leadership role.