Mamata Banerjee Disowns Brother Over Election Outburst

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday abandoned her brother Babun Banerjee hours after his outburst for not getting a ticket from the Trinamul Congress in the Lok Sabha Election and a threat to fight the polls from Howrah as an independent against three-time party MP and candidate Prasun Banerjee. Shaken by Ms Banerjee's announcement, Babun, who is the fourth among the six brothers of the TMC supremo, later changed his mind. In the morning Babun, who is a TMC leader and wanted to contest from Howrah, alleged, “Prasun misbehaved with me during the AGM of Mohun Bagan Club. He can't fully spend the funds under his MPLAD also.”

He also claimed, “One can't do politics sitting at home. That's why I have decided to contest at Howrah as an independent since I'm also a voter there. I will have a word with Didi over my plan since she ties Rakhi on my hand. It's a brother-sister relation. I consider her my



god. She might ask me not to contest there but I will try to convince her about my plan.” Hitting back at him in the afternoon, Ms Banerjee, who was in Jalpaiguri of North Bengal, said, “I have repeatedly made it clear that there is nothing called ‘my family.’ My family is the people. If you try to find blood connection in my family then there will be 32 members in the chain. But none of them is like him. He creates problems in every election. Everyone is aggrieved by him.”

She elaborated, “When someone grows, his greed also increases . Anyone can do anything without involving the family. But from today I don't see him as my family member. All ties have been severed by not only me but also those in our blood connection and Maa, Mati, Manush. Don't introduce him as my brother further. Don't take my name also because I disassociated him from my family bonding.”