KOLKATA, May 16 : After the Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered a major setback in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, party chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged defeated candidates to rebuild the organisation, asserting that those unwilling to stay were free to leave.
Addressing a meeting of TMC candidates at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata, attended by the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Banerjee said the party would recover despite its crushing electoral defeat.
“Those who want to leave for other parties may go. I will rebuild the party afresh,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by party sources. She also asked leaders and workers to restore damaged party offices and resume organisational activities.
The TMC, which contested 291 of the state’s 294 assembly seats, won only 80, while its ally Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) contested the remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills. Several senior leaders and ministers lost their seats, including Banerjee herself from Bhabanipur.
The meeting was convened amid reports of internal dissatisfaction and speculation over possible defections following the party’s dramatic fall from power to the opposition benches.
Reiterating allegations of electoral malpractice, the TMC maintained that the people’s mandate had been “looted.” In a post on X, the party praised its candidates for fighting “with unmatched courage despite facing unimaginable atrocities and relentless intimidation.”
Party insiders said Banerjee used the meeting to boost the morale of candidates and send a strong message of unity during a difficult phase for the organisation.
