Kolkata: The scaled-down Bhaiphonta at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat home on Wednesday gave a peek into the many battles the former Bengal CM is fighting at home and in her fractious party.At least three of her five brothers — Ajit, Amit (MP Abhishek Banerjee’s father) and Ganesh — trooped in at the 30B Harish Chatterjee Street address to take Bhaiphonta from their Didi on Wednesday, a day after her estranged brother, Swapan (Babun) Banerjee, laid out the red carpet at his Kali Puja for current Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari. (It could not be confirmed whether the other surviving brother, Kartik Banerjee, was at Mamata’s residence on Wednesday. His phone was switched off.)Babun — who had a photo-op with CM Adhikari on Tuesday — joined rebel Trinamool MLAs at their own Bhaiphonta event at Metropolitan off EM Bypass, showing where his loyalties lay. A host of rebel MLAs, including Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas and Madan Mitra — who till 2025 were regulars at Mamata’s Bhaiphonta do — were there as well.Babun’s public show of disloyalty did not go down well with most of the other Banerjee siblings. Ganesh spoke at length on how Mamata had struggled to bring many of them up and support the family after the death of their father, Promileshwar Banerjee, when she was still a teenager. “Didi is our guardian. She and our elder brother (Ajit) have raised us since we were young. She has always shared a brother-sister bond with us, irrespective of her stature. If someone says anything else, I cannot comment,” he said. Asked what he gifted Didi, Ganesh said, “Didi does not accept gifts. I have only one wish for her — always stay well.”MP Kalyan Banerjee, too, stuck to his Bhaiphonta routine of visiting Mamata’s home. “She is my Didi. It is because of her I am in politics. What others say or do is for the people to judge — whether to accept them, reject them, or hate them,” he told reporters.Asked about statements by Ganesh and Kalyan, Babun said while walking past Mamata’s home, “I will go where there is love. And this love has a name — Suvendu Adhikari. I was not invited to Kalighat. I took phonta in the neighbourhood. I was overwhelmed by people’s love for me.”An hour later, he joined the rebel MLAs at their Bypass office to take phonta from former minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. “Chandrima-di invited me, so I am here. There is no political colour to it,” he said.Another notable absentee in Kalighat was former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim. “I heard that there would be no Bhaiphonta in Kalighat this year. I did not get any invite. Yes, it is a break from a 35-year practice, and it does feel bad. Chandrima-di invited me here, so I have come,” Hakim said.Referring to Babun, Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “A person’s entire identity centres around the fact that he is Mamata Banerjee’s brother. Would the CM have found time for him had he not been Mamata Banerjee’s brother? As for the rest, they are politically irrelevant. They were desperate for a photo-op to keep themselves relevant, and Bhaiphonta offered them just the opportunity.”Trinamool had announced that Mamata would not host the Bhaiphonta celebrations at her Kalighat residence on the scale seen in previous years, in protest against the alleged torture, harassment and indiscriminate arrest of party workers since BJP came to office in the state.Panchayat minister Dilip Ghosh said, “Earlier, everyone used to flock to her home on Bhaiphonta only to stay close to power. Today, she is out of power. So, there is no Bhaiphonta. She knew that those who visited her home in previous years would not turn up this time.”BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya criticised Mamata Banerjee for not organising Bhaiphonta celebrations at her home with her “sonar tukro” brothers. “Those who would, at best, have become councillors had Congress been in office were made cabinet ministers by Mamata Banerjee. They enjoyed good times while she was in office. Now that her reign is over, they have parted ways with her,” Bhattacharya said at a Bhaiphonta celebration organised by BJP.
Discover more from updatview
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
