Among the many few Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders older than celebration chief Mamata Banerjee and who handle her by her first title slightly than the extra generally used ‘Didi’, 77-year-old Sudip Bandopadhyay is considered one of her oldest confidants who broke ranks and joined the rebels. Nevertheless, this isn’t the primary time Mr. Bandyopadhyay has defected from the celebration.
Born in Bahampore in Murshidabad district, Bandyopadhyay studied at Maharaja Krishnath College in Bahampore and commenced his political profession beneath Congress chief Priyaranjan Dasmunshi. He was first elected to the West Bengal Legislative Meeting from Bowbazar seat in 1987 and held the seat in 1991 and 1996.
After Mamata Banerjee give up the Congress and the TMC was shaped in 1998, Bandyopadhyay joined the brand new celebration and resigned from his Congress seat. He contested and received the Lok Sabha elections from Calcutta North West in 1999 and emerged as one of many early Congress faces of the TMC, serving because the chief whip of the Congress.
Nevertheless, in 2004, Mamata needed to area one other considered one of her veteran lieutenants, Subrata Mukherjee from Calcutta North West (the seat ceased to exist after delineation in 2008), and requested Bandyopadhyay for a switch. Not wanting to surrender his turf, Bandyopadhyay selected to return to the Congress and received from Bowbazar once more on a Congress ticket within the 2006 meeting elections. Nevertheless, unable to make a lot headway within the celebration and accusing the state Congress management of neglecting him, Bandyopadhyay returned to the TMC fold in 2008, when the celebration was gaining momentum to return to energy within the state.
In 2009, he regained his house base because the TMC fielded him from the newly created Kolkata-Uttar Lok Sabha constituency. He received the elections and his presence within the Congress additional strengthened after 2011, when Mamata grew to become chief minister. Bandyopadhyay was appointed because the chief of the TMC Congress Social gathering and later served as Minister of State for Well being and Household Welfare within the UPA-2 authorities.
Bandyopadhyay received the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections and remained the celebration’s senior parliamentary face till TMC nationwide basic secretary Abhishek Banerjee changed him in August final yr.
“Even when he give up as an MLA, he nominated his spouse in his place. It was due to this motion that leaders like Tapas Roy and Sajal Ghosh joined the BJP. Kunal Ghosh He was even suspended for his remarks towards Dip Da. Mamata at all times trusted him, however he misplaced his mood after she authorized Abhishek as his successor as celebration president,” mentioned a senior TMC official.
Bandyopadhyay’s profession was additionally marked by authorized and political controversies. In January 2017, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in reference to the Rose Valley tip fund scandal, a multibillion-dollar monetary scandal investigated beneath the watchful eye of the Supreme Court docket. Later, the Orissa Excessive Court docket granted him conditional bail in Might 2017 and directed him to supply a surety, cooperate with investigators and produce his passport. This case is pending.
TMC commotion
In recent times, there have been studies of disagreements amongst senior leaders over the function of the group and decision-making powers, particularly given Abhishek’s rising profile in celebration affairs.
Towards this backdrop, a piece of TMC members shaped a separate group beneath the management of Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar following the celebration’s defeat within the current meeting elections. Bandyopadhyay’s presence within the group was unclear till just lately, together with his spouse MLA Naina Bandyopadhyay seen with Mamata Banerjee and his appointment as deputy chief within the state Congress, resulting in conflicting explanations from celebration sources.
Sources mentioned the rebels had approached Mr. Bandyopadhyay so as to add gravity to their problem to the TMC management. There have been additionally studies of help from BJP leaders.
After it emerged that Bandyopadhyay had turned insurgent, TMC MP Mahua Moitra questioned Bandyopadhyay’s clarification for his Kolkata absence and alleged that he had lied to the celebration about his well being situation. “@SudipBAITC instructed us that he was at Apollo Kolkata with a abdomen bug when she all of a sudden noticed him on TV in Delhi at Bhupendra Yadav’s home,” she mentioned in a submit on X on Sunday.
Mr. Bandyopadhyay was instantly faraway from the submit of North Kolkata organizing district president and was changed by Mr. Kunal Ghosh. The transfer is seen as a part of a broader reorganization inside the celebration, which is prone to collapse as a consequence of these defectors.
Reacting to the continuing speculations, Bandyopadhyay mentioned he had met Union Residence Minister Amit Shah for almost 70 minutes and confirmed that he had mentioned inside grievances amongst some TMC MPs together with his political colleagues. He additionally indicated that he had communicated with senior leaders because the state of affairs modified, whereas sustaining alignment with the celebration’s broader framework.
Roy and Sajal Ghosh, who had been as soon as related to Bandyopadhyay in TMC, slammed him. Whereas Ghosh mentioned folks “do not like Dada and Boudi (Sudip and Naina)”, Roy mentioned, “He (Sudip) went to the insurgent camp to avoid wasting himself. He has by no means accomplished something for the folks or the celebration. He has by no means pledged allegiance to anybody. Mamata has realized that now.”
