‘Returned To My Roots’: Mamata Banerjee’s Close Aide Sovan Chatterjee Back In TMC After 7 Years | Politics News

Sovan Chatterjee had quit the TMC in November 2018, resigning as minister, mayor and organisational head, citing personal reasons. (x)

Ahead of West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, former Kolkata mayor and minister, Sovan Chatterjee, on Monday returned to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a gap of seven years.

Once a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chatterjee made a comeback to the party days after being appointed chairman of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).

He rejoined the party along with his partner Baisakhi Bandopadhyay in Kolkata in the presence of senior TMC leaders, ending years of speculation over their political future.

“This is a return to my roots. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is like family. I am happy to be back and will work under her leadership again,” Chatterjee said after rejoining the party, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Earlier in October, a notification from the West Bengal government announced that Sovan Chatterjee had been appointed chairman of the NKDA until further orders.

The NKDA is a statutory body responsible for the development and civic work of the Newtown area under the NKDA Act, 2007.

Since the township does not fall under any single municipality, NKDA essentially acts as its civic authority. The post has previously been held by senior bureaucrats Debashish Sen and Alapan Bandopadhyay.

A close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the formative years of the TMC, Chatterjee quit the party in November 2018, stepping down from his roles as minister, mayor, and party office-bearer amid differences with the leadership.

Chatterjee later joined the BJP with his partner Baisakhi Bandopadhyay. However, his stint with the saffron party was brief, and he publicly admitted that joining the BJP had been a mistake.

During the 2021 Assembly polls, Chatterjee and Bandopadhyay had quit the BJP, accusing the party’s state leadership of “insults and betrayal.” Since then, their return to the TMC fold had been a subject of recurring speculation, which finally came to fruition on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies)