Swapan Banerjee, the 52-year old brother of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, flipped and flopped on Wednesday after an irate Mamata snapped all ties with him for going public with his grievances against the Trinamul’s Howrah nominee and sitting MP Prasun Banerjee.
“I have said multiple times that I don’t have any personal family, maa-mati-manush is my family. There are 32 people with whom I have blood ties. No one else is like him. Everyone is upset with him. Please keep the family out,” Mamata said during an interaction with media persons at Siliguri.
She was reacting to Swapan, alias Babun, going public with his grievances and his "decicion" to contest as an Independent from Howrah.
“Don’t call him my brother. I dissociate myself from him. He has troubled me before every election. I don’t approve of many of his activities. If all my family members start asking for tickets, I will be indulging in dynasty politics but I don’t do that,” Mamata fumed.
Calling Babun “greedy” Mamata said, by expressing his desire to contest as an Independent he had thrown a challenge at her. “Prasun (Banerjee) is our candidate from Howrah and he has been challenged. The stakes are further high now,” she said.
Soon after Mamata’s public rebuke, Babun was back on the news channel begging for her forgiveness. “I made a mistake. Didi can say whatever she wants to. This is personal I don’t want to talk about it. I have nothing to say against the party nominee. Didi’s blessings mean everything to me,” said Babun.
Once a among the hangers-on at the Mohun Bagan tent, Babun enjoyed a steady rise in Bengal’s sports arena capitalising on his being the younger brother of Mamata.
Over the years, Babun had emerged as a key figure in the Bengal sports arena. In 2016, he became secretary of the Bengal Olympic Association defeating by a wafer thin margin his opponent, Chandan Roy Chowdhury, who was the candidate of BOA president Ajit Banerjee, also a member of the family.
Four years later, Babun defeated his elder sibling Ajit and became the president of BOA. He is also the football secretary of the Mohun Bagan club, is associated with hockey and boxing, apart from heading workers’ unions in a few private hospitals in Calcutta.
He also played a key role in making different players rally around the Trinamul, and the inclusion of some of them like Prasun himself, along with Lakshmi Ratan Shukla and Manoj Tiwary in the party-fold.
On Wednesday Babun did not hide the fact that he was keen on taking the plunge into electoral politics, while pouring out his grievances against Prasun.
“I was assured I would get a ticket in 2019, 2021. There was a possibility this time too (of getting a ticket). I am unhappy,” he said. “As long as Didi is alive I cannot join any other party. I am allergic towards Prasun. He is not the right choice for Howrah,” Babun had said, while expressing his intent to contest as an independent candidate from Howrah.
When Mamata fielded Prasun from the Howrah Lok Sabha by-polls in 2013, Babun had campaigned actively.
The two—Prasun and Babun-- had a falling out in 2018 during an annual general meeting of the Mohun Bagan club, during which allegedly the supporters of both the Banerjees had come to blows.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Babun’s expectations regarding Howrah spiked as Mamata did not re-nominate Abir Ranjan Biswas, outgoing Rajya Sabha MP and son-in-law of the Howrah Lok Sabha MP.
On Wednesday, Babun did not hide his resentment against Prasun.
“I am allergic towards him. I haven’t forgotten how he misbehaved with me during the Mohun Bagan AGM. I have doubts whether he is qualified to be an MP. Someone who can’t clear class V exams, is being handed the graduation certificate,” Babun said.
