Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya on Monday said the party is paying the price for expelling State Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee from West Bengal.
Speaking to the media, the Congress leader said that the then Congress president Somen Mitra sacked Banerjee in 1997 following instructions from the then party chief Sitaram Kesri for her comments against the party. He further said that he had advised Mitra about the decision, but the pressure from the higher command was too great.
Mamata Banerjee was expelled from the Congress on January 21, 1997, under the leadership of party president Sitaram Kesri. Later, on January 1, 1998, he founded the Trinamool Congress.
“Why did the Congress party break up in Bengal? I remember the day when Mamata Banerjee was expelled from the party. I got a call from Somen Mitra. He said that Sitaram Kesri called to say that Mamata should be expelled. ‘You have to do it because we did it,’ said Kesri, ‘Whatever you do , don’t do this. Congress regrets it even today,” Bhattacharya said.
After the expulsion of Mamata Banerjee from the Congress, the Grand Old Party has seen a major decline in West Bengal. In the Lok Sabha elections, held in 2024, the Congress managed to win only one seat. Even senior party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lost to TMC’s Yusuf Pathan in his constituency Baharampur after five consecutive terms.