Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tells Mamata: Join Congress, leave your 'baggage' behind
Synopsis
Veteran Bengal Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury — historically one of Mamata Banerjee’s fiercest critics — has publicly called on her to dissolve the TMC and join Congress outright, but only after leaving behind her ‘baggage,’ widely read as a dig at nephew Abhishek Banerjee. The call comes just 24 hours after Mamata and Rahul Gandhi expressed mutual support at an INDIA bloc meeting, making the timing anything but accidental.
Key Takeaways
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on 1 October publicly invited Mamata Banerjee to join Congress directly, along with her loyal MPs and MLAs.
He urged her to leave behind her ‘baggage,’ widely interpreted as a reference to her nephew and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee .
Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at an INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday , where both leaders expressed mutual support.
Mamata Banerjee broke from Congress in 1998 to float the Trinamool Congress , citing the state unit’s failure to oppose the Left Front government.
Neither Mamata Banerjee nor any TMC leader has responded to Chowdhury’s remarks.
Former West Bengal Congress president and five-time Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday, 1 October, issued an open invitation to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to join the Indian National Congress (INC) directly — but only after shedding her political “baggage.” The remarks, made to media persons in Kolkata, carry added weight given Chowdhury’s well-established identity as one of Mamata’s most consistent political opponents within the state.
What Chowdhury Said
“Mamata Banerjee will take the right decision if she joins Congress directly with the existing MPs and MLAs who are still loyal to her. We will accept it. When she had already taken shelter under the leadership of Congress, which is like a banyan tree, she should join the party directly instead of carrying along a separate entity. She should do that just leaving behind the ‘baggage’ and the ‘one’ which is her biggest problem,” Chowdhury told reporters.
While Chowdhury did not explicitly name anyone, political observers widely interpret the reference to “baggage” and “the one” as a pointed allusion to Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, TMC General Secretary, and sitting Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member. Abhishek is widely regarded as the second most powerful figure within the TMC.
Why the Timing Matters
The call comes a day after Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee both attended an INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. During that meeting, Mamata Banerjee held conversations with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Reports indicate that Mamata and Rahul Gandhi expressed mutual support on several issues, lending fresh momentum to speculation about a closer alignment between the TMC and Congress at the national level.
Chowdhury’s public call the very next day is therefore seen by political analysts as a deliberate and carefully timed move, not a casual remark.
The Historical Fault Line
Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress, accusing the then state leadership of failing to mount a credible challenge to the CPI-M-led Left Front government in West Bengal. That split has defined Bengal’s political landscape for over two decades, making any talk of reunion structurally complicated.
Chowdhury himself has, throughout his political career, been an outspoken critic of Mamata Banerjee, making his willingness to publicly welcome her entry into the Congress a notable shift in posture — or at minimum, a strategic signal directed at the broader opposition camp.
No Response from TMC
As of the time of reporting, neither Mamata Banerjee nor any senior leader from her faction had responded to Chowdhury’s remarks. The silence from the TMC side keeps the political speculation alive without escalating the exchange into an open confrontation.
How the Congress high command in New Delhi receives Chowdhury’s unsolicited overture — and whether Mamata’s own engagement with Rahul Gandhi deepens — will be closely watched in the coming days.
Point of View
Potentially boxing her into a corner ahead of any deepening INDIA bloc talks. The irony is hard to miss: the man who spent years as Mamata’s loudest nemesis in Bengal is now casting himself as the gatekeeper of her path back into Congress. If the Congress high command in Delhi privately endorses his framing, it signals that any TMC-Congress rapprochement would demand TMC’s structural subordination — a condition Mamata has historically rejected. The silence from the TMC is telling; it preserves options without conceding ground.
NationPress
2 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury say about Mamata Banerjee joining Congress?
Chowdhury publicly invited Mamata Banerjee to merge with the Congress along with her loyal MPs and MLAs, but only after shedding what he called her ‘baggage’ — a term political observers widely interpret as a reference to her nephew and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. He made the remarks to reporters in Kolkata on 1 October 2026.
Who is the ‘baggage’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referred to?
Chowdhury did not name anyone explicitly, but political observers broadly interpret the reference to ‘baggage’ and ‘the one’ as pointing to Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew, TMC General Secretary, and Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member, who is widely considered the second most powerful figure in the party.
Why did Mamata Banerjee originally break away from Congress to form TMC?
Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998 after splitting from Congress, alleging that the party’s West Bengal unit was not serious about challenging the CPI-M-led Left Front government in the state. The break created a political rivalry that has defined Bengal politics for over two decades.
What happened at the INDIA bloc meeting that preceded Chowdhury’s remarks?
On Wednesday, 30 September, Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee attended an INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi, where Mamata held conversations with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The two leaders reportedly expressed mutual support on several issues, fuelling speculation about a closer TMC-Congress alignment.
Has Mamata Banerjee or the TMC responded to the Congress invitation?
No. As of 1 October 2026, neither Mamata Banerjee nor any senior TMC leader has publicly responded to Chowdhury’s open call for her to join Congress.
