A cornered Mamata Banerjee on Saturday declared herself “not dead” and assumed the additional responsibility of her party’s state president, a post vacated by a trusted aide’s departure to the rebel camp, desperately trying to stay afloat in Bengal politics.

“Do you think I am dead? Do you think our workers are dead? Do you think the TMC is dead?” the Trinamool Congress chairperson and former chief minister asked during a virtual speech on Facebook, her first public appearance since June 17.

Her 26-minute address from the confines of her home marked a stark contrast to times — only months earlier — when she could summon tens of thousands of party supporters to the streets at a moment’s notice, over any issue she chose.

“I will live long, and the next generations will live on too. Just as some people can betray the party, others will protect and uphold its flag,” Mamata said.

She vowed to fight back even if the party symbol was taken away from her — an indirect acknowledgement that she realised the rebel group, headed by leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, might succeed in grabbing the party name and symbol.

“Even if the symbol is taken away, what does it matter? A symbol is meaningful only when it is accepted by ordinary people and by the workers of the Trinamool Congress,” Mamata, who founded the party in 1998 and is believed to have personally chosen the “jora ghas phool” symbol, said.

“I fought an election with this symbol just one month and 22 days after getting it. At that time, I could not make it familiar to all,” Mamata said.

“If I wear that symbol around my neck and go to the people today, can you stop me? Yes, you can — but only by killing me.”

The immediate trigger for Mamata’s virtual address was the Ritabrata camp taking control of the party’s state headquarters on EM Bypass on Friday and locking the gates.

The dispute over the party office resulted in Chandrima Bhattacharya’s resignation as Trinamool state president. She met the Ritabrata camp at the Assembly on Saturday and denied specifying whether she joined the rebels.

The former finance minister claimed she had resigned because Mamata no longer trusted her and had accused her of handing the party office over to the rival faction.

Without naming Chandrima, Mamata suggested a different reason for her resignation.

“You (the Ritabrata faction) locked the party office yesterday, and today someone had to resign because of it. But that is not the real story,” she said.

“She had been saying for a long time that she would resign because her son had already joined hands with them.”

Chandrima’s son and Calcutta councillor Saurav Basu had crossed over to the rebel camp weeks ago.

Mamata repeatedly described the rebels as traitors and challenged them to join the BJP instead of breaking their old party that had helped them win elections.

Chandrima’s resignation and Mamata’s decision to assume the post herself served to underscore her isolation, highlighting her refusal to risk appointing anyone else — not even loyalist MLAs and state general secretaries Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra.

“Chandrimadi was given the responsibility barely a month ago. It’s a big embarrassment for the party that she quit and joined the rebel group in such a short time,” a Mamata camp source said.

Mamata asserted that the Bypass office belonged to her party and not the rebels, but indicated she would have no hesitation operating from her 30B Harish Chatterjee Street address, as in theearly days.

“The office that you locked yesterday was ours. Here are the documents. We have possession of it until October 2027,” she said, holding up a sheaf of documents. “You may be able to lock a building, but you cannot lockpeople’s hearts.”

She went on to say: “This office at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street existed even before the TMC was formed. It functions as usual today and will continue to function in future.”

Mamata appears to have realised that following the electoral rout and the mass desertions by her lawmakers, she would have to play a bigger organisational role than she did when she waschief minister.

“I have no other work now; I shall devote myself fully to strengthening the party,”she said.

After the election results, many Trinamool leaders had said that the situation would not have deteriorated to this extent had Mamata devoted more time to the organisation.

During her tenure as chief minister, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and I-PAC effectively ran much of the party organisation, causing discontent among a large section of party leadersand workers.

Saturday marked the first time Mamata publicly congratulated Suvendu Adhikari on becoming chief minister. She, however, reminded him of his past association with Trinamool.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya ridiculed Mamata’s outburst and her attempt to stay relevant.

“Mamata ceased to exist as a street fighter after Trinamool grabbed power in Bengal.… The weight of a dead body can’t be reduced by cutting its hair. Trinamool is now nirmool (eradicated),” he said.