• Source:JND

Abhishek Banerjee Attacked: Two dates - August 16, 1990 and May 30, 2026 - draw a parallel trajectory of the political career of two Trinamool Congress stalwarts - Abhishek Banerjee and his aunt Mamata Banerjee. Abhishek, who is the de facto political successor of Mamata, underwent a bitter experience on Saturday, when a group of unidentified people attacked him, marking a significant turning point in his political career, just as his aunt, who dauntlessly faced political violence during her early days in politics.

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What Happened With Abhishek In Sonarpur

Abhishek, who went to visit the victims of post-poll violence in Sonarpur town of West Bengal, was attacked, drawing strong support from Mamata, who slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the ruler became the killer. After escaping the mob wearing a cricket helmet, the young TMC MP claimed that BJP activists were trying to kill him. Trinamool leader and former minister Shovan Chattopadhyay, who was present with Abhishek, said that he has suffered injuries in many parts of his body, including his head.

Scores of people hurled stones, eggs and abuses at the TMC general secretary in a dramatic and unprecedented outburst of public anger. The crowd scuffled with the TMC leader and roughed him up while raising chants of "thief, thief". The situation quickly spiralled into chaos, with some members of the crowd attempting to physically attack Banerjee by raining blows and kicks on him, prompting swift intervention by security personnel. Despite the resistance, the MP chose to reach his destination, about a kilometre away, on foot, when the situation turned even more chaotic with hundreds of agitated locals trying to block his move with violent means. "They wanted to kill me. The whole incident has been captured on camera. We will definitely let the high court know about this. We will also let the governor know about this. I will definitely move court," Banerjee said while meeting the kin of Sanju Karmakar, who allegedly died in post-poll violence.

As Mamata's political heir countered with political violence, perhaps for the first time, people who followed 90s Bengal politics would draw a parallel to the similar incident when the former chief minister Mamata was attacked during the Left rule in the early 90s.

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Hazra Crossing Attack

On August 16, 1990, a bandh was called against the Left government. Mamata, then a rising young Congress leader, had organised a rally in South Kolkata in support of the 'Calcutta Bandh'. Workers of CPI-M allegedly confronted a procession led by Mamata near the Hajra-SP Mukherjee Road Crossing. During the scuffle, a local CPI-M leader named Lalu Alam allegedly struck her head with a heavy object, leaving her bleeding. Her picture from the scene, showing her head heavily bandaged, later became a symbol of her political street-fighter image. However, in 2019, the accused, Alam, was acquitted after facing a 29-year-long court trial.

In a TOI report, Mamata recalled the incident, saying her mother was apprehensive and did not want her to go out of the home on August 16, but somehow she managed to skip her surveillance. She further recalled that her co-party workers took out a rally from Hazra as they proceeded, and a group of people attacked her. Since it was a bandh, photographers were present there and captured the moment, which the next day dominated all newspapers.

(With Agencies Inputs)


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