 "TMC's Kalyan Banerjee after sustaining injuries when he smashed a glass bottle during a heated exchange with BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay at a meeting of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, in New Delhi, October 22, 2024. PTI")
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee is back in the limelight. After hitting the headlines last year for mimicking Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Banerjee is staring at another controversy.
On Tuesday (October 22), Banerjee was suspended for a day from the parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. This came after he reportedly smashed a glass bottle during an argument with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
Who is Kalyan Banerjee, the TMC MP who keeps getting embroiled in controversies? Let’s take a look.
Meet Kalyan Banerjee
Banerjee, 66, is a four-time MP from Serampore in the Hooghly district. The lawyer-turned-politician won his first Assembly election in 2001 from Asansol Uttar. He lost in 2006 and shifted to Parliament by 2009.
Banerjee is known for representing the TMC in legal matters. As per an Indian Express report, he appeared for the party before the Calcutta High Court in the Rizwanur Rahman case, the Nandigram and Singur land agitations, and the Chhota Angaria massacre of TMC activists.
Banerjee is not new to controversies. Senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh sent a legal notice to the TMC leader in 2015, accusing him of making defamatory and libellous statements against him and his family.
Before he stirred a row with his mimicry of Dhankhar, Banerjee took potshots at him when the latter was the West Bengal Governor from 2019 to 2022.
After Dhankar gave permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2021 to prosecute TMC ministers, Banerjee said, “He is a bloodsucker. He is trying to suck the blood of the Trinamool Congress.”
Last year, Banerjee landed in a soup after his video mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar went viral. The TMC MP was seen imitating the former West Bengal governor in front of the new Parliament building during a protest by opposition MPs, who were demanding a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the December 13 Parliament security breach.
The BJP had created an uproar over the video, which was purportedly captured by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Expressing his disappointment over the incident, Dhankhar had called it “shameful, ridiculous and unacceptable”.
A defiant Banerjee had insisted he would repeat the act as mimicking was his right to freedom of expression. “Mimicky is an art form. It is my fundamental right to express my views. The right to dissent and protest is also a fundamental right. You can put me in jail for this but I will not step back,” he said, as per Indian Express.
In January this year, the TMC MP praised the VP for his “great gesture” of wishing him on his birthday. “I am truly overwhelmed that he spoke to me and my wife and invited us for dinner at his place,” Banerjee told PTI.
“Life must always move on, leaving behind past misunderstandings,” he said when asked if this could improve the duo’s relations.
During the Lok Sabha campaign earlier this year, Banerjee made unsavoury remarks about his rival CPI(M) candidate Dipsita Dhar. After Dhar labelled him “Mr India” and alleged he had not been seen in Serampore since winning the 2019 polls, Banerjee called her “Miss Universe” and raised doubts about her academic credentials.
Banerjee also made objectionable remarks on Dhar’s complexion, saying she “doesn’t campaign in the evening as people won’t be able to see her,” reported Indian Express.
Kalyan Banerjee lands in hot water, again
Banerjee has again courted controversy, which left him injured. Sources told PTI that high drama erupted during a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
The TMC MP smashed a glass bottle and hurled it towards panel chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal while engaged in a heated war of words with the saffron party’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
As per the news agency, Banerjee hurt his thumb and little finger and had to be administered first aid. Visuals shared by PTI showed the TMC leader being escorted back to the meeting room by All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh.
The incident took place as the committee was hearing the views of two organisations from Odisha, which included retired judges and lawyers, when the opposition MPs questioned their stake in the bill.
A BJP member told the news agency that Banerjee was the first person to speak and was even allowed to intervene. However, a row erupted when he sought to speak again, which was declined by Pal. This also triggered a war of words between the TMC leader and Gangopadhyay who objected to his repeated interjections.
Banerjee was later suspended from the parliamentary committee for a day after a resolution was tabled by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
BJP leader Agnimitra Paul slammed Banerjee for such “violent” behaviour.
“His actions of injuring himself with a glass bottle in a fit of rage during a discussion about a respected former Calcutta High Court Judge, Abhijit Ganguly, now a BJP MP are beyond unacceptable. This kind of unrestrained aggression sets a dangerous precedent, especially for someone in public office who should be an example of composure and responsibility,” she wrote in a post on X.
Hitting out at the Mamata Banerjee-led government in Bengal, Paul said, “How can we expect law and order in West Bengal when leaders themselves are engaging in violence? This is yet another reflection of the deeply embedded culture of lawmakers and impunity under the Mamata regime. The people of Bengal deserve better than a party whose representatives behave so recklessly.”
With inputs from agencies