Former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid the party's deepening internal crisis, declaring in a video message that she would not be silenced despite defections, political pressure and legal challenges.
Addressing party workers and supporters, Banerjee said, "To silence me, you will have to kill me," asserting that she would never bow before the BJP or abandon her political struggle. She accused the BJP of attempting to weaken and dismantle the TMC through intimidation, engineered defections and pressure tactics targeting party leaders and workers. She challenged rebel leaders to either remain loyal to the TMC or openly join the BJP, saying they should "join the BJP and take me on" if they had the courage.
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Calling the dissidents "traitors", Banerjee urged the public not to forgive those who had betrayed the party. She appealed to TMC workers to remain united, saying the party had been built through years of struggle and sacrifice and would continue to fight even if it lost its election symbol.
She also accused the BJP of targeting senior TMC leaders, including Mahua Moitra, Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee, and alleged that some jailed party colleagues had been subjected to inhuman treatment in custody.
Her remarks came as the Trinamool Congress faces one of its biggest internal crises, with rebel leaders claiming the support of around 60 MLAs, several lawmakers breaking away, and former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik joining the BJP ahead of the July 24 Rajya Sabha bypolls.
Banerjee slammed the BJP government's pilot project replacing eggs with vegetarian alternatives in select West Bengal government schools, accusing the ruling party of neglecting crucial public welfare. "Children are being deprived of eggs in their mid-day meals while you busy yourselves with such grotesque antics," she said, calling the move entirely foreign to Bengal's culture. Pointing to her own 15-year tenure, Banerjee alleged that the current administration is prioritising political vendetta over the basic needs of school children.
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