The Trinamul Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will not do an Eknath Shinde in Bengal.

Addressing party workers at the Netaji Indoor stadium, Abhishek said, “I am not a beimaan (traitor). Even if my throat is cut, I will still say Mamata Banerjee zindabad. I had identified traitors like Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari. I will keep doing it. They are spreading lies that I will open a new party.”

Referring to the CBI charge sheet filed in the teachers’ recruitment scam which mentions one Abhishek Banerjee, he said, “Hundred per cent of the news reports are fake. Yesterday they said ED, CBI has filed a chargesheet against me. Of the 28 pages, in two places the name is mentioned without any address, father’s name, whether he is an MP, MLA or block president. CBI is speaking in the BJP’s tone, making vague references. The BJP has CBI, ED, a section of the judiciary, Income Tax, but they do not have the courage of our party workers.”

Abhishek also said he has been unhappy as his organisational recommendations have been ignored by Mamata. He told the workers at the beginning of his speech, that he hadn't had the opportunity to meet with them for a long time.

While Abhishek has time and again raised the issue of age-limit in politics followed by political rivals like the BJP and the CPM, Mamata wants the Trinamul’s tried and tested hands like Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Subrata Bakshi, Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas to work in tandem with leaders backed by Abhishek.

Abhishek has also set a target of 215 seats for the Trinamul Congress for the 2026 Assembly polls,

“In the Assembly Mamata Banerjee said, we will return to power with two-third majority, which comes to around 194-195 seats. In the 2021 Assembly elections, we won 214 seats. Next year we have to win at least one seat more than the last election.”

The Trinamul general secretary also had a word of caution for the party leaders indulging in infighting and factionalism.

On Wednesday, Trinamul’s Krishnagar MP Mahua Moitra had said in a party meeting without taking names those tarnishing the party’s image with corrupt practices were like Raghu Dakat.

“The entire family members are thieves… Only because of two or three thieves the entire party’s image is tarnished,” Mahua said at Nadia’s Palashipara, from where the Trinamul MLA Manik Bhattacharya was arrested in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam.

Without taking any names, Abhishek cautioned the party leaders on factional feuds.

“Forget about your differences. Those who indulge in WhatsApp group politics are not helping the party. Don’t keep power to yourself, go to the people with the welfare policies of the government,” he said.