West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari met Mamata Banerjee’s brother Babun Banerjee at a puja organised by the latter in Kalighat. Babun welcomed the CM and also touched his feet. In the past, Adhikari had also visited the Jagadhatri Puja and a blood donation camp organised by Babun Banerjee.

“I felt very good that he came to visit us. He has come in the past for our Jagadhatri Puja and blood donation camp,” said Babun Banerjee.

Babun had fallen out with Mamata in 2024 after being denied a ticket for the Hooghly Lok Sabha elections. Mamata instead gave the ticket to former footballer Prasun Banerjee.

On the Bengali festival of Bhai Phonta, or Bhai Dooj, on Wednesday, Babun said he had not been invited by Mamata for the past few years and would not go even if he were invited. Instead, he said he would stand by Adhikari.

“Looking at what Suvendu Adhikari has done for Bengal in the last six months, I want to see him become CM again,” said Babun Banerjee.

The events were unsettling for Mamata’s faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), though leaders chose to remain calm and instead said Babun held no significance for the party.

“Mamata had disowned him as her brother a long time ago. They do not stay together. Mamata had removed him from everything, because a big allegation had come to Mamata’s notice. After this, Mamata Banerjee took stern action,” said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.

The TMC leader went on to say that any attempt by Babun to gain importance by invoking his relationship with Mamata was condemnable.

The relationship between the siblings further soured after he was removed as president of Hockey Bengal and later lost the election for the post of president of the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA).

Babun also stepped down as president of the West Bengal Table Tennis Association in September 2026. Babun continues to hold the posts of joint secretary of the Boxing Federation of India and football secretary of Mohun Bagan Club.

Significance of Adhikari meeting Babun

By visiting Kalighat to meet Babun, Adhikari sent a clear message about making inroads into the Kalighat area, where Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee live in separate houses.

While Adhikari is the main player in Bhabanipur, which is now his constituency, the CM also wants to win the confidence of voters in the Kalighat segment.

Political science professor Maidul Islam of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences noted that the civic polls slated for the end of the year are a factor influencing Suvendu and the BJP.

“Cosying up to Babun may be to create more fissures within the Trinamool supremo’s personal family, apart from the damage that has already been done to the Trinamool family, such as with the Ritabrata faction and the NCPI,” said Prof. Islam.

The government has proposed increasing the number of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) from 144 to 209 through delimitation, citing demographic changes and population management.

The BJP needs to strengthen its base at the grassroots level, and gaining the support of more opposition leaders and workers who are veering towards the BJP would be a win-win situation for the saffron party.