Trinamool MLA backs Abhishek Banerjee to be Bengal Deputy Chief Minister

Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir on Friday backed party MP Abhishek Banerjee to be made West Bengal Deputy Chief Minister soon and claimed.

That the Narendra Modi-led NDA government would collapse soon. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Kabir asserted that the INDIA bloc will form the government at the Centre and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will play a role in government formation.

“At the Centre, the BJP does not have a clear majority. It (the Modi government) will not last long. The INDIA bloc will form the government at the Centre and Mamata Banerjee will play an important role in that. So, she will be busy in Delhi. Hence, Abhishek Banerjee must be made the Deputy Chief Minister to take care of the state government,” Kabir said.

In recent times, various Trinamool Congress leaders have openly favoured Abhishek Banerjee to become the West Bengal Chief Minister. Now, Kabir has opined that Abhishek Banerjee, an MP from Diamond Habour, becoming the Deputy Chief Minister will be beneficial for the party as well as the state.

“In 2000, under Jyoti Basu’s Chief Ministership, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was made the Deputy Chief Minister and was also given the Home Department. Later, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was made Chief Minister,” Kabir, the TMC MLA from Bharatpur, said.

He also advocated the idea of giving the West Bengal Home Department to Abhishek Banerjee, exuding confidence that he would do a good job.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh backed the idea of having Abhishek Banerjee as the West Bengal Chief Minister. “In the natural course of time, Abhishek Banerjee will become West Bengal’s Chief Minister one day, leading Trinamool Congress into a new era. He embodies the spirit and legacy of Mamata Banerjee, while also adapting it to modern challenges,” he said.

The BJP took a dig at the Trinamool Congress over its calls to appoint Abhishek as Mamata Banerjee’s deputy and called it “dynastic politics”. “The Trinamool Congress isn’t a party for the people. It’s a family business. They’re preparing to pass on the Chief Minister’s position like an inheritance,” BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya said.

Mamata Banerjee stormed to power in West Bengal in 2011 after ending the Left’s 34-year rule and has retained the Chief Minister’s seat since then. Despite many reshuffles, there has been no induction of a Deputy Chief Minister and neither has the Home Department been assigned to anyone else apart from Mamata Banerjee for the past 13 years.

Interestingly, it was the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who was the last Deputy Chief Minister of West Bengal, with his tenure ending in November 2000.

Abhishek Banerjee is currently a Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour. He won the seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, defeating his BJP rival Abhijit Das by over seven lakh votes.