Yesterday Abhishek Banerjee got beaten up badly in Sonarpur, and today the Trinamool Congress woke up to what feels like a quiet earthquake inside their own house. Only a handful of their MLAs showed up for a big meeting at Mamata di’s place. The rest? Just didn’t turn up. The whole thing got cancelled, and suddenly everyone’s wondering if the party that ruled Bengal for so long is starting to crack wide open.
These aren’t just news bites – these are real people, real anger, real fear running through families and neighbourhoods.
On Saturday, he went to Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas. The reason was heavy – he wanted to meet the family of Sanju Karmakar, a local TMC worker who they say was killed in the violence that broke out after the elections. Abhishek has always been the energetic one, the face of the younger crowd in the party. But this visit didn’t stay peaceful for long.
Suddenly a crowd gathered. People started shouting “chor, chor” – thief, thief. Then came the eggs, stones, slippers, whatever they could find. Someone even threw a brick that caught him near the eye. His shirt got ripped. He had to put on a cricket helmet just to protect himself while his security tried to push through and get him out. You can see the videos – they’re all over phones. He looked shaken when he spoke later. “They wanted to kill me,” he said. “Everything is on camera. We’ll take it to the High Court.”
Mamata Banerjee didn’t stay quiet either. She put out strong words, saying the rulers have become killers now, pointing straight at the new BJP setup. TMC people are calling it a planned attack, saying the police knew he was going but didn’t give proper security. On the other side, BJP leaders are saying this anger is coming from ordinary people who suffered under years of what they call TMC’s high-handed ways. They claim the attackers weren’t their men but local folks fed up with the old regime. Five people have been arrested already, but trust is so low that nobody fully believes anyone.
Then there was the hospital drama. Abhishek was taken to a couple of private places first. Doctors there apparently said the injuries weren’t life-threatening. But TMC cried foul, saying someone from above was telling hospitals to play it down. There are even stories of leaked calls where Mamata was upset with a hospital head. Finally he landed up at Belle Vue and got admitted. The medical reports say he’s okay, but the pictures of him with the helmet and torn clothes have already done their work – they’ve become symbols of how bitter things have become.
The very next day – that’s today, Sunday – came the second blow, and honestly, this one might hurt TMC even more in the long run. They had called an important legislative party meeting at Mamata’s residence. These meetings are where they plan strategy, lift each other’s spirits, especially after losing power so badly. But when the time came, only around 20 MLAs out of 80 showed up. Sixty of them stayed away. The meeting was simply cancelled.
Party people tried to explain it away – said many were busy protesting the attacks on Abhishek and on senior MP Kalyan Banerjee. Kalyan too got hit on the head in Hooghly while submitting a memorandum. He fell down holding his head. Two attacks back to back. It looks scary for TMC. They see it as systematic targeting. Others see it as the fear of the old days lifting and people speaking up.
That low attendance tells a deeper story. After the big loss in the assembly polls, there have already been whispers – councillors resigning, leaders quietly looking at options, some even talking openly about the party falling apart.
When TMC was in power, the opposition shouted about cut-money, syndicates, strong-arm tactics, and families dominating everything. Now the tables have turned. Probes are happening, arrests are on, and in some pockets the public anger is spilling out. Abhishek was seen as the rising star – MP from Diamond Harbour, youth wing builder, national general secretary. But with power gone, all those old stories about sand mining, coal, and family control are being shouted louder.
Still, nobody deserves to be mobbed like that. Violence is violence, whether it’s against TMC workers yesterday or against Abhishek today. Ordinary families are the ones who suffer – mothers worrying about sons, shops getting shut, lives disrupted.
Mamata Banerjee is still the fighter she’s always been. She went to the hospitals, spoke strongly, tried to show the party is standing firm. But even she must be feeling the ground move. Other opposition voices – from Congress, Left, wherever – have condemned the attack on Abhishek and called it political vendetta. At the ground level though, many people are just tired. They want roads fixed, jobs for kids, peace in the para, not daily headlines of who hit whom.
Abhishek has said he’ll go to court. Protests are planned. Police investigations continue. But papers and protests can only do so much if the workers and leaders at the bottom are losing heart.
Bengal has seen poriborton before. The change TMC once brought has now come back around. Yesterday’s rulers are today’s opposition fighting for relevance. The assault on Abhishek was ugly and wrong. But those empty chairs the next morning might be the bigger signal – a sign that doubt and hesitation have entered the party.
We’ve all seen too much violence – from both sides over the years. What we need is leaders who cool things down instead of pouring petrol on the fire. TMC has to do some real soul-searching: why did people reject them so strongly? How do they become a strong, responsible opposition instead of just shouting victimhood? And the new government needs to show that “change” means better days for everyone, not just settling old scores.
Sources:
Based on reports from NDTV, Times of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, and other major Indian outlets covering the incidents, statements, and political reactions in West Bengal reports. Videos and leader statements as widely circulated.
