Like my son, father's duty to forgive: Kalyan Banerjee's U-turn on Abhishek

After publicly attacking Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and issuing an ultimatum to party chief Mamata Banerjee to choose between him and her nephew, senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee has struck a conciliatory tone, describing Abhishek as "like my son" and saying it is a father's duty to forgive a son's mistakes.

Speaking to the news agency ANI on Saturday amid reports of growing fissures within the TMC, Kalyan Banerjee said, "He is like my son. It is the work of the father to forgive all faults made by a son."

Kalyan Banerjee's conciliatory remarks mark a sharp contrast to his comments earlier this week. In a strongly worded interaction with India Today, he accused Abhishek Banerjee of arrogance and blamed him for the party's troubles.

"He's such an arrogant person. One must understand that because of him, because of Abhishek Banerjee, the party has been destroyed today. We have lost it. Everybody is saying this," Kalyan Banerjee had said.

Kalyan Banerjee also issued a blunt ultimatum to the TMC chief, saying: "Choose us or Abhishek."

He had also warned that if Mamata Banerjee chose to back her nephew, he would be forced to take "other decisions". Saturday's remarks, however, indicated a significant softening of his stance toward the TMC national general secretary.

The Serampore MP also raised concerns over the political situation in West Bengal, alleging that democracy was under threat.

"Democracy is under threat in the country. West Bengal never faced a situation where the opposition was wiped out. This CM is vindictive. This is a danger for democracy," he said.

Banerjee also reacted to reports that a group of dissident MPs was preparing to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

"Let them do what they want. They will have to live under the shelter of the BJP. All this is a ploy. They cite the reason as development of their constituencies, but those who cannot even visit their constituencies, so what work will they do. When democracy has finished in West Bengal. What development has been done in the last one month, even after talks with the CM? BJP is harassing us, the police are harassing us. No Opposition in West Bengal has ever faced such a thing as what we are facing. The 19 MPs who are going to BJP, will not be accepted by the BJP," he said.

He also dismissed speculation about a possible merger between the TMC and the Congress, saying, "We are not merging with the Congress."

Kalyan Banerjee's remarks came hours after Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials conducted searches at the Kalighat residence of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose alleged that police personnel reached Abhishek Banerjee's residence at around 3 am on Saturday and that a Disaster Management team was later called in to break open locks before the search began.

In a post, Ghose claimed that the search lasted about 90 minutes and yielded no evidence. "Outcome? Seizure report says: NIL. No evidence. No wrongdoing. Nothing. Just political vendetta, intimidation and mental torture. Operation Lotus is targeting every leader who refuses to surrender to the BJP's diktat," she alleged, describing the action as a politically motivated attempt to target an opposition leader.

The developments come amid escalating political turmoil in West Bengal. An FIR has reportedly been lodged against former Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over alleged communal remarks made during a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

According to the allegations, Mamata Banerjee told members of a minority community that their safety depended on her leadership and urged them not to be influenced by what she described as the BJP's "misleading" statements.

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