Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee on Sunday, 15 November launched a sharp public attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari after the latter praised late CPI(M) leader and former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as a ‘good man in a wrong party.’ Banerjee, a four-time MP and senior advocate, went further, delivering an unusually pointed criticism of Bhattacharjee himself — remarks he quickly clarified were his personal views and not his party’s official position.

What Adhikari Said

Last week, while addressing a programme in Gokulnagar in East Midnapore district, Chief Minister Adhikari described Bhattacharjee as “a very good person” who belonged to “a bad party.” He also spoke warmly of his personal relationship with Mira Bhattacharjee, the late leader’s widow, saying he had visited her when she recently fell ill. Notably, Mira Bhattacharjee has previously expressed appreciation for Adhikari’s industrialisation push and reportedly said she believed he could carry forward some of her late husband’s unfinished development goals for the state.

Kalyan Banerjee’s Counter-Attack

Banerjee, one of the prominent faces in the faction of Trinamool Congress aligned with former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, rejected both the praise of Bhattacharjee and Adhikari’s framing of the late leader’s legacy.

“Bhattacharjee was the leader in all attacks unleashed by the CPI(M) workers when he was the head of the state. Whatever some people might say about Bhattacharjee, the truth is that most of the atrocities against common people took place when he was heading the state,” Banerjee told reporters. He added, “He was the hero of all the murderers in CPI(M). Even though he has died, all these facts should be said. It is a different matter that he was honest in his personal life. But mentally, he was thoroughly dishonest.”

Banerjee was explicit in distancing his remarks from the party line, stating that his comments represented his personal observations alone.

CPI(M) Dismisses the Remarks

CPI(M) leader Satarup Ghosh responded with open contempt, describing Banerjee’s comments as the latter’s “drunken delirium” and saying there was no necessity to give them any significance.

The Political Context

The episode underscores the complex political dynamics in West Bengal, where Adhikari’s outreach to figures from the Left’s legacy is being read by Trinamool as an attempt to build a broader coalition narrative ahead of the next state assembly election cycle. This is not the first time that cross-party praise for Bhattacharjee has sparked internal Trinamool friction; the late leader’s reputation for personal integrity has historically complicated efforts to build a uniform anti-Left narrative. The row also highlights visible tensions within Trinamool’s own ranks, with Banerjee’s public dissent from any softer line on the Left era reflecting the party’s electoral calculus in its traditional support base.

How the ruling Trinamool leadership chooses to respond — or not — to Banerjee’s remarks will be closely watched as the state’s political temperature continues to rise.