Mamata Banerjee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current
chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of the
Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...
of
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
since 20 May 2011, the first woman to hold the office. Having served many times as a Union Cabinet Minister, Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the first time in 2011. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC) in 1998 after separating from the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
, and became its first chairperson. She is often referred to as 'Didi' (meaning ''elder sister'' in
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
). Banerjee previously served twice as
Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
, the first woman to do so. She is also the second female
Minister of Coal The Ministry of Coal is an Indian government ministry headquartered in New Delhi. The portfolio is held by Cabinet Minister Pralhad Joshi. The Ministry of Coal is charged with exploration of coal and lignite reserves in India, production, ...
, and
Minister of Human Resource Development The Minister of Education, formerly the Minister of Human Resources Development (1985-2020), is the head of the Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. ...
, Youth Affairs and Sports, Women and Child Development in the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
of the
Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...
. She rose to prominence after opposing the erstwhile land acquisition policies for
industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
of the
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
-led government in West Bengal for
Special Economic Zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
at the cost of agriculturalists and farmers at Singur. In
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Banerjee pulled off a landslide victory for the AITC alliance in West Bengal, defeating the 34-year-old
Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...
-led Left Front government, the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist-led government, in the process. She was a member of
West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian states and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is located in the B. B. D. Bagh area of Kolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative as ...
from Bhabanipur from 2011 to 2021. She contested the
Nandigram Nandigram is a census town in the Nandigram I Community Development Block of the Haldia subdivision in the Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2007, the West Bengal government allowed the Salim Group to set up a ch ...
assembly seat and lost to the
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
's
Suvendu Adhikari Suvendu Adhikari (born 15 December 1970) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 10 May 2021. He is a member of the West Bengal Legislative ...
in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, though her party won a large majority of seats. She is the third West Bengal Chief Minister to lose an election from her own constituency, after
Prafulla Chandra Sen Prafulla Chandra Sen (10 April 1897 – 25 September 1990) was an Indian politician and freedom fighter. He was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1962 to 1967. Background Prafulla Chandra Sen was born in the village Senhati in the Khulna ...
in 1967 and
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also known as Buddha Babu (born 1 March 1944) is an Indian Communist politician and a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as the 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal from 20 ...
in 2011. Mamata challenged the result of Nandigram Constituency in Calcutta High Court and the matter is sub judice. She led her party to a landslide victory in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.


Early life and education

Banerjee was born in
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
(now Kolkata),
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, to a Bengali Hindu Brahmin family. Her parents were Promileswar Banerjee and Gayetri Devi. Banerjee's father, Promileswar died due to lack of medical treatment, when she was 17. He was a freedom fighter. In 1970, Banerjee completed the higher secondary board examination from Deshbandhu Sishu Sikshalay. She received a bachelor's degree in history from
Jogamaya Devi College Jogamaya Devi College is one of the oldest and leading women's colleges in Kolkata, India. It shares the same building with Asutosh College (day college) and Syamaprasad College (evening college) and is named after the wife of Sir Asutosh Mu ...
. Later, she earned her master's degree in
Islamic history The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims r ...
from the
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
. This was followed by a degree in education from
Shri Shikshayatan College Shri Shikshayatan College is an undergraduate women's liberal arts college in Kolkata, India. It was founded on 8 July 1955. It is affiliated with the University of Calcutta. It also offers a master's degree in English and Commerce. Location 11 ...
and a law degree from
Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College The Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College (abbreviated as JCCLC) is a Government Sponsored Law College in south Kolkata offering degree courses in law. It is affiliated with the University of Calcutta. Notable alumni *Hon’ble Justice Bhaska ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. Banerjee became involved with politics when she was only 15. While studying at the Jogamaya Devi College, she established Chhatra Parishad Unions, the student wing of the Congress (I) Party, defeating the All India Democratic Students Organisation affiliated with the
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI(C), previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India and "Socialist Unity Centre", is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in India. The party was founded by Shib ...
. She continued in the Congress (I) Party in West Bengal, serving in a variety of positions within the party and in other local political organisations.


Early political career, 1984–2011


Political career with Congress

Banerjee began her political career in the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
party as a young woman in the 1970s. In 1975 she gained attention in the press media when she danced on the car of socialist activist and politician
Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...
as a protest against him. She quickly rose in the ranks of the local Congress group and remained the general secretary of Mahila Congress (Indira), West Bengal, from 1976 to 1980. In the 1984 general election, Banerjee became one of India's youngest parliamentarians ever, defeating veteran Communist politician
Somnath Chatterjee Somnath Chatterjee (25 July 1929 – 13 August 2018) was an Indian politician who was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life, though he had been a non affiliated independent during his last decade. He was t ...
, to win the Jadavpur parliamentary Constituency in West Bengal. She also became the general secretary of the
Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. While ...
in 1984. She lost her seat to Malini Bhattacharya of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...
in the 1989 general elections in an anti-Congress wave. She was re-elected in the 1991 general elections, having settled into the Calcutta South constituency. She retained the Kolkata South seat in the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 general elections. Banerjee was appointed the
Union Minister of State The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...
for
Human Resources Development Training and development involve improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as related to immediate changes in organizational effectiveness via organized instruction, while devel ...
, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Women and Child Development in 1991 by
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
,
P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...
. As the sports minister, she announced that she would resign and protested in a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, against the Government's indifference towards her proposal to improve sports in the country. She was discharged of her portfolios in 1993. In April 1996, she alleged that Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPI-M in West Bengal. She said that she was the lone voice of reason and wanted a "clean Congress". In December 1992, Banerjee took a physically challenged girl, Felani Basak, who was allegedly raped by CPI(M) cadres to Writer's Building to the then Chief Minister Jyoti Basu but was harassed by the police before being arrested and put on detention. She had sworn she would enter the building again only as chief minister. The State Youth Congress led by Mamata Banerjee organised a protest march to Writers Building in Kolkata on 21 July 1993 against the Communist government of the state. They demanded that voters’ ID cards be made the only required document for voting, to put a stop to CPM's "scientific rigging". Thirteen people were shot and killed by police during the protest and many others were injured. Reacting to this incident the then-Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, said that the "police had done a good job." During the 2014 inquiry, Justice (retired) Sushanta Chatterjee, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court described the police response as "unprovoked and unconstitutional". "The commission has come to the conclusion that the case is even worse than Jallianwala Bagh massacre," said Justice Chatterjee.


Founding Trinamool Congress

In 1997, due to difference in political views with the then
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), formerly known as the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee in Colonial India, is the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of West Bengal. The head office of the organization is ...
president
Somendra Nath Mitra Somendra Nath Mitra (31 December 1941 – 30 July 2020), popularly known as Somen Mitra, was an Indian politician. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, elected from the Diamond Harbour constituency in West Bengal state in 2009 as a Trinamool ...
, Banerjee left the Congress Party in West Bengal and became one of the founding members of the All India Trinamool Congress, along with
Mukul Roy Mukul Roy (born 17 April 1954) is an Indian politician from West Bengal belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress. He has also served as a Minister of State in the Shipping Ministry and later Ministry of Railways during the second UPA gov ...
. It quickly became the primary opposition party to the long-standing Communist government in the state. On 11 December 1998, she controversially held a
Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...
MP, Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the collar and dragged him out of the well of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the
Women's Reservation Bill The Women's Reservation Bill or The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 9 th March, 2010, is a bill passed in the Parliament of India which says to amend the Constitution of India to reserve 1/3 of all seats in the lower house of Parliament of ...
.


Railway Minister (first tenure), 1999–2000

In 1999, she joined the
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
-led
National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...
(NDA) government and became Railways Minister. In 2000, Banerjee presented her first
Railway Budget Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement of the state-owned Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the Parliam ...
. In it, she fulfilled many of her promises to her home state West Bengal. She introduced a new biweekly New Delhi-
Sealdah Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Etymology Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata w ...
Rajdhani Express Rajdhani may refer to: * ''Rajdhani'' (film), 1956 Indian film * ''Rajadhani'' (1994 film), Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Rajadhani'' (2011 film), Indian Kannada-language film * Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan * Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, a ...
train and four express trains connecting various parts of West Bengal, namely the
Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...
-
Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average ele ...
Rupasi Bangla Express, the Sealdah-
New Jalpaiguri New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station (station code NJP) established in 1960, is an A1 category broad gauge and narrow-gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the largest as well as the ...
Padatik Express The 12377 / 12378 ''Padatik Superfast Express'' is a daily Superfast train which runs between Sealdah in West Bengal and in West Bengal via New Jalpaiguri Junction (Siliguri) in West Bengal. The train covers a distance of . The train belong ...
, the
Shalimar Shalimar or Shalamar refers to three historic royal gardens (or Baghs) of the Mughal Empire in South Asia: * Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India; built in 1619 * Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Pakistan; a UNESCO World Heritage Site built i ...
-
Adra The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA or ADRA International) is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. I ...
Aranyak Express, the Sealdah-Ajmer Ananya Superfast Express, and Sealdah-Amritsar Akal Takht Superfast Express. She also increased the frequency of the
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
-Howrah
Azad Hind Express Azad Hind Express is an express train of Central Railway of Indian Railways linking Pune with Howrah. It is one of the fastest trains in its route with high priority. It covers a distance of 2,015 kilometers at an average speed of 60 k ...
and extended at least three express train services. Work on the Digha-Howrah Express service was also hastened during her brief tenure. She also focused on developing tourism, enabling the
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...
section to obtain two additional locomotives and proposing the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. She also commented that India should play a pivotal role in the Trans-Asian Railway and that rail links between
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
would be reintroduced. In all, she introduced 19 new trains for the 2000–2001 fiscal year. In 2000, she and
Ajit Kumar Panja Ajit Kumar Panja (13 September 1936 – 14 November 2008) was a Union minister of state in the Government of India. He was a member of Indian National Congress party but left it to join Trinamool Congress. He was born in Calcutta, and studied ...
resigned to protest the hike in petroleum prices, and then withdrew their resignations without providing any reasons.


2001 West Bengal election

In early 2001, after ''
Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...
'' exposure of
Operation West End Operation West End was the first sting operation done by ''Tehelka'' in 2001, an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism. It was done in order to expose the defense deals of the then ruling party, the NDA led by BJP. The sp ...
, Banerjee walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengal's 2001 elections, to protest the corruption charges levelled by the website against senior ministers of the government.


Minister of Coal and Mines, January 2004 – May 2004

She returned to the
NDA NDA may stand for: Military * National Defence Academy (India), a military academy in India * National Defence Act, legislation for organizing and funding Canada's military * National Defense Academy of Japan, a military academy in Japan * Nig ...
government in September 2003 as a cabinet minister without any portfolio. Along with Mamata, her party colleague Sudip Banerjee was also inducted in the Vajpayee ministry. On 9 January 2004 she took charge as Ministry of Coal and Mines. During her short term as the minister of coal and mines, the government disallowed the sale of the
National Aluminium Company National Aluminium Company Limited (abbreviated as NALCO; incorporated in 1981) is a government company having integrated and diversified operations in mining, metal and power under the ownership of the Ministry of Mines and Government of India ...
. She held the
Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
and Mines portfolios till 22 May 2004.


2004–2006 election setbacks

In Indian general election of 2004 her party aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, however, the alliance lost the election and she was the only Trinamool Congress member to be elected from a parliamentary seat from West Bengal. Banerjee suffered further setbacks in 2005 when her party lost control of the
Kolkata Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation (abbreviated KMC; also Calcutta Municipal Corporation) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of . Its motto, '' ...
and the sitting mayor Subrata Mukherjee defected from her party. In 2006, the Trinamool Congress was defeated in West Bengal's Assembly Elections, losing more than half of its sitting members. On 4 August 2006, Banerjee hurled her resignation papers at the
deputy speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
Charanjit Singh Atwal Charanjit Singh Atwal (born 15 March 1937) is an Indian politician who was Deputy Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha of India from 2004 to 2009. He represented the Phillaur constituency of Punjab in the 14th Lok Sabha and is a member of the Shirom ...
in
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
. She was provoked by
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
Somnath Chatterjee's rejection of her adjournment motion on illegal infiltration by
Bangladeshis Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the p ...
in West Bengal on the grounds that it was not in the proper format.


Singur, Nandigram and other movements

On 20 October 2005, she protested against the forceful land acquisition and the atrocities perpetrated against local farmers in the name of the
industrial development Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...
policy of the
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also known as Buddha Babu (born 1 March 1944) is an Indian Communist politician and a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as the 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal from 20 ...
government in West Bengal. Benny Santoso,
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
-based Salim Group, had pledged a large investment in West Bengal, and the
West Bengal government The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...
had given him farmland in Howrah, sparking protests. In soaking rain, Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress members stood in front of the Taj Hotel where Santoso had arrived, shut out by the police. Later, she and her supporters followed Santoso's convoy. A planned "black flag" protest was avoided when the government had Santoso arrive three hours ahead of schedule.


Singur protest

In November 2006, Banerjee was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally against a proposed
Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...
car project. Banerjee reached the West Bengal assembly and protested at the venue. She addressed a press conference at the assembly and announced a 12-hour shutdown by her party on Friday. The TMC supremo Mamata, who was arrested by police earlier in that day 'for violating prohibitory orders' near Singur, alleged that the administration had acted ‘unconstitutionally’ by preventing her from entering Singur where the Tata motors proposed to set up a small car factory. She was intercepted at Hooghly and sent back. After this incident the Trinamool Congress MLAs protested by damaging furniture and microphones and vandalizing the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Building. A major strike was called on 14 December 2006. But all-in-all, there was no gain. On 4 December, Banerjee began the historic 26-day hunger strike in Kolkata protesting the forcible acquisition of farmland by the government. The then-President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who was concerned about her health, spoke to the then-Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...
to resolve the issue. Kalam also appealed to Ms Banerjee to withdraw her fast as "life is precious". A letter from Manmohan Singh was faxed to
Gopalkrishna Gandhi Gopalkrishna Devadas Gandhi (born 22 April 1945) is a former administrator and diplomat who served as the 22nd Governor of West Bengal serving from 2004 to 2009. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). As a former ...
, the then-Governor of West Bengal, and then it was immediately delivered to Mamata. After receiving the letter Mamata finally broke her fast at midnight on 29 December. (One of her first acts after becoming Chief Minister was to return the 400 acres of land to Singur farmers. In 2016 the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
declared that the acquisition of 997 acres of land by West Bengal's Left Front government for the Tata Motors plant in Singur was illegal.)


Nandigram protest

The Nandigram violence was an incident of
Nandigram Nandigram is a census town in the Nandigram I Community Development Block of the Haldia subdivision in the Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2007, the West Bengal government allowed the Salim Group to set up a ch ...
in West Bengal, occurred in the year 2007, where a battalion of armed police stormed the rural area in the district of
Purba Medinipur Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative d ...
with the aim of quashing protests against the West Bengal government's plans to expropriate of land for a
Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
(SEZ) to be developed by the Indonesian-based Salim Group. At least 14 villagers were shot dead and 70 more were wounded. This led to a large number of intellectuals to protest on the streets. CPI(M) cadres allegedly molested and raped 300 women and girls during the Nandigram invasions. Banerjee wrote letters to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister
Shivraj Patil Shivraj Vishwanath Patil (born 12 October 1935) is an Indian politician who was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administra ...
to stop what she called "state-sponsored violence" promoted by CPI(M) in Nandigram. Her political activism during the movement is widely believed to be one of the contributing causes to her landslide victory in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
. The CBI report on the incident vindicated CPI(M)'s stand that Buddhadeb did not order the police to open fire. They did so only to disperse the unlawful assembly after every other standard operating procedure had failed. But supporting the violence in Nandigram by his own party workers, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had said earlier "They (the oppositions) have been paid back in the same coin." There are allegations of involvement of some local TMC leaders in the Nandigram Violence (On 15 April Ms. Banerjee clarified this matter in a live interview to ABP Ananda).


2009–2011 electoral progress

Before the 2009 parliamentary elections she allied with the
United Progressive Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
(UPA) led by Indian National Congress. The alliance won 26 seats. Banerjee joined the central cabinet as the railway minister (second tenure). In the 2010 Municipal Elections in West Bengal, TMC won Kolkata Municipal Corporation by a margin of 62 seats. TMC also won Bidhan Nagar Corporation by a seven-seat margin. In 2011, Banerjee won a sweeping majority and assumed the position of chief minister of the state of West Bengal. Her party ended the 34-year rule of the Left Front. Trinamool Congress performed well in the 2009 parliamentary election, winning 19 seats. Its allies in Congress and SUCI also won six and one seats respectively marking the best performance by any opposition party in West Bengal since the beginning of the Left's regime. Until then, the Congress victory of 16 seats in 1984, was considered their best show in opposition.


Railway Minister (second tenure), 2009–2011

In 2009, Mamata Banerjee became the railway minister for the second time. Her focus was again on West Bengal. She led
Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
to introduce a number of non-stop ''
Duronto Express Duronto Express is a category of long-distance non-stop source to destination trains run by the Indian Railways. Initially these trains did not have any ticketing stops between the origin and the destination, but since January 2016 it is possib ...
'' trains connecting large cities as well as a number of other passenger trains, including women-only trains. The Anantnag-Qadigund segment of the
Jammu–Baramulla line The Jammu–Baramulla line is a railway track being laid to connect the Kashmir Valley in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir with Jammu railway station and thence to the rest of the country. The 356 km railway track will star ...
that had been in the making since 1994 was inaugurated during her tenure. She also declared the long line-1 of the
Kolkata Metro The Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India. , it has two operational lines, a line from Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash and a line from Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah, for a total of . Four ...
as an independent
zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...
of the Indian Railways for which she was criticised. She stepped down as
railway minister A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...
to become the
chief minister of West Bengal The Chief Minister of West Bengal is the representative of the Government of India in the state of West Bengal and the head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal. The chief minister is head of the Council of Ministers and ap ...
. She commented: "The way I am leaving the railways behind, it will run well. Don’t worry, my successor will get all my support." Her nominee from her party,
Dinesh Trivedi Dinesh Trivedi (born 4 June 1950) is an Indian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and a former Member of parliament, Lok Sabha (2009–2019) representing Barrackpore constituency of West Bengal. Prior t ...
, succeeded her as railway minister. Banerjee's tenure as railway minister was subsequently questioned as most of the big-ticket announcements made by her when she held the post, saw little or no progress. Reuters reported that "Her two-year record as railway minister has been heavily criticized for running the network into more debt to pay for populist measures such as more passenger trains." The Indian Railways became loss-making during her two-year tenure.


Chief Minister of West Bengal


First term, 2011–16

In
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, the All India Trinamool Congress along with
SUCI The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI(C), previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India and "Socialist Unity Centre", is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in India. The party was founded by Shibda ...
and the INC won the West Bengal legislative assembly election against the incumbent Left Alliance by securing 227 seats. TMC won 184 seats with the INC winning 42 seats and the SUCI secured one seat. This marked the end of the longest-ruling democratically elected Communist party in the world. Banerjee was sworn in as chief minister of West Bengal on 20 May 2011. As the first female chief minister of West Bengal, one of her first decisions was to return 400 acres of land to Singur farmers. "The cabinet has decided to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers in Singur," the chief minister said. "I have instructed the department to prepare the papers for this. If Tata-babu (
Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata, GBE (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also the chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, serving also as interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017. ...
) wants, he can set up his factory on the remaining 600 acres, otherwise we will see how to go about it." She has also been credited for setting up of the
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is a semi-autonomous council for the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal state in India. The GTA was formed in 2012 to replace the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which was formed in 198 ...
. She began various reforms in the education and health sectors. Some of the reforms in the education sector included the release of teachers' monthly pay on the first of every month and quicker pensions for retiring teachers. In the health sector Banerjee promised: "A three-phase developmental system will be taken up to improve the health infrastructure and service." On 30 April 2015, a representative of
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
India congratulated the government for making
Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...
the first Open Defecation Free district in the country. In a statement on 17 October 2012, Banerjee attributed the increasing incidence of rape in the country to "more free interaction between men and women". She said that "Earlier if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded but now everything is so open. It’s like an open market with open options." She was criticised in the national media for these statements. She was also instrumental in the rollback of the petrol price hikes and the suspension of FDI in the retail sector until a consensus is evolved. In a bid to improve the law and enforcement situation in West Bengal, police commissioners were created at
Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...
, Barrackpore, Durgapur-Asansol and
Bidhannagar Bidhannagar is a planned urban agglomeration and city and a municipal corporation of the North 24 Parganas in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is in Greater Kolkata region and also a part of the area covered by the Kolkata Metropolitan Dev ...
. The total area of Kolkata Municipal Corporation was brought under the control of the
Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police Force (KPF) is one of the two presidency police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata Police has the task of policing the metropolitan area (apart from Bidhannagar and New Town, which are served by the Bidhannag ...
. Banerjee had shown a keen interest in making the public aware of the state's history and culture. She named several stations of the Kolkata Metro after freedom fighters, and plans on naming upcoming stations after religious leaders, poets, singers and the like. Mamata Banerjee has been criticised for starting controversial stipends to imams (Iman Bhatta) which was ruled unconstitutional by Calcutta High Court. On 16 February 2012,
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
, of the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
, sent a letter to the West Bengal government praising Banerjee and her administration for achieving a full year without any reported cases of polio. The letter said this was not only a milestone for India but also for the whole world. In June 2012, she launched a
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page to rally and gather public support for A.P.J Abdul Kalam, her party's choice for the presidential elections. After he refused to stand for the second time, she supported
Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
for the post, after a long tussle over the issue, commenting she was personally a "great fan" of Mukherjee and wishing that he "grows from strength to strength". She is against calling ''bandhs'' (work stoppage) although actively supported them when she was in opposition. Her tenure was also heavily marred by the Saradha Scam – financial embezzlement which led to the imprisonment of
Madan Mitra Madan Mitra (born 3 December 1954) is an Indian politician, and social media sensation. Madan Mitra started his career with party Indian National Congress. He held many positions of Indian Youth Congress, the party's youth wing. In 1998, he joi ...
– a former minister in her cabinet,
Kunal Ghosh Kunal Ghosh (''Kunal Kumar Ghosh'' engali: কুণাল কুমার ঘোষ born 20 June 1968) is an Indian journalist and politician. He is a member of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) and a former member of the Parliament o ...
– a party MP, and rigorous grilling of several party men holding important posts.


Second term, 2016–2021

In the 2016 assembly elections, All India Trinamool Congress won with a landslide two-thirds majority under Mamata Banerjee winning 211 seats out of total 293, who has been elected as Chief Minister West Bengal for the second term. All India Trinamool Congress won with an enhanced majority contesting alone and became the first ruling party to win without an ally since 1962 in West Bengal. In 2017 Kanyashree, a scheme launched by her government, was ranked the best by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
among 552 social sector schemes from across 62 countries.


Third term, 2021–present

In the 2021 assembly elections, AITC won with a landslide two-thirds majority. But, Mamata Banerjee who fought from
Nandigram Nandigram is a census town in the Nandigram I Community Development Block of the Haldia subdivision in the Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2007, the West Bengal government allowed the Salim Group to set up a ch ...
lost against
Suvendu Adhikari Suvendu Adhikari (born 15 December 1970) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party who is the current Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 10 May 2021. He is a member of the West Bengal Legislative ...
of Bharatiya Janata Party by 1,956 votes. Mamata Banerjee however challenged this outcome and the matter is sub judice. As her party won 213 seats out of total 292, she was elected as Chief Minister of West Bengal for the third term. Later at Raj Bhawan, she tendered her resignation to
Jagdeep Dhankhar Jagdeep Dhankhar (born 18 May 1951) is an Indian politician and lawyer, who is serving as the 14th and current vice president of India, since 11 August 2022. Prior to serving in this position, he served as the Governor of West Bengal. He also ...
. She took oath as Chief Minister on 5 May 2021. Her party later won 2 remaining seats and she herself won Bhabanipur by-election by a huge margin of 58,835 votes. She was sworn in as MLA on 7 October. After winning the election, following her promises she launched the scheme Lakshmir Bhandar . In this scheme women under the age of 60 were provided the basic financial help, about 500 rupees for general and 1000 rupees to minorities. The scheme turned out to be a huge success as it became massively popular. Another scheme was also projected under her leadership, Students Credit Card scheme , to give financial supports in loan to intellectual students who are unable to keep higher studies due to lack of money. The loan limit was upto 10 lakh rupees, under the nominee of government of West Bengal. On 30 November 2021, she surpassed her immediate predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to become the third-longest-serving Chief Minister of West Bengal. If Mamata remains in office on and beyond 26 October 2025, she will become the second-longest-serving Chief Minister after Jyoti Basu, superseding
Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician, educationist, and statesman who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 until his death in 1962. Roy played a key role in the founding of several institutio ...
.


Public profile and controversies


Saradha scam

The Saradha Group financial scandal and the
Rose Valley financial scandal The Rose Valley financial scandal or simply Rose Valley Chit Fund Scam was a major financial scam and alleged political scandal in India caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Rose Valley Group. Rose Valley scam is one of the biggest fin ...
came to light during her tenure and some of her cabinet ministers were accused of money laundering and have been incarcerated. One of her paintings was also sold to Sudipto Sen (central figure in the Saradha scam) for , while 20 more of her pictures were seized from other Saradha Group shareholders. She has been criticised by opposition parties for not taking adequate steps against her own ministers who tried to cover-up their deeds. Sudipto Sen was arrested from Kashmir. The Shyamal Sen Commission, set up by the Chief Minister, was able to return to the depositors. Leaders from Congress and CPI(M) like
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (born 2 April 1956) is an Indian politician serving as the leader of the Indian National Congress in the 17th Lok Sabha and the Member of Parliament from Berhampore. He is also the current president of West Bengal Prades ...
, Sujan Chakraborty,
Biman Bose Biman Bose (born July 1, 1938) is an Indian politician who was once state Secretary of the West Bengal Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was later succeeded by his trusted aide, Surya Kanta Mishra, although he remained a Politburo member ...
were also accused in this scam. Despite Bankshall Court's order to investigate into this matter, no action has been taken by CBI against any of these leaders (other than TMC leaders) to date.


Rose Valley scam

The Rose Valley financial scandal was a major financial scam and alleged
political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...
in India caused by the collapse of a
Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
run by Rose Valley Group where multiple MPs from Banerjee's party were accused of
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
.


Narada scam

The
Narada sting operation The Narada sting operation was a sting operation carried out by Mathew Samuel targeting high-ranking officials and politicians of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). It showed several politicians and a high-ranked police officer accepting ...
was carried out by
Mathew Samuel Mathew Samuel is a former managing editor of the Indian news magazine ''Tehelka''. He is one of the founding members of the magazine, and as a special correspondent there, he instigated Tehelka's biggest corruption investigation, Operation West ...
in 2011 for the Indian newsmagazine ''Tehelka'' and published on Naradanews.com just before the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. The sting targeted high-ranking officials and politicians of Banerjee's political party All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). During her tenure she challenged the federal system of India when she ordered the arrest of CBI officials, who arrived in Kolkata to investigate the Saradha Group financial scandal. But CBI's attempted arrest of Kolkata Police Commissioner was also an attack on federalism.


Allegations of Muslim appeasement

Mamata Banerjee and her government has been accused of " Muslim appeasement" several times by different groups of people including the opposition political parties. But refuting such claims her supporters says "Didi works for everyone, doesn’t discriminate between Hindus and Muslims."


''Imam Bhatta'' controversy

Mamata Banerjee has been criticised for starting controversial stipends to imams (Iman Bhatta). The stipends were ruled unconstitutional by Calcutta High Court and ordered the West Bengal government to stop payment of the monthly stipend to thousands of imams and muezzins in the state.


Durga Idol immersion controversy

In October 2016, the West Bengal government banned the
Durga Puja Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...
festival immersion after 4:00 pm. Durga Puja was to take place on 12 October and
Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...
on 13 October. This was seen by a section of the West Bengal population as another example of the "'' Muslim Appeasement''" policy of Banerjee's government. The Calcutta High Court overturned the decision and called it ''"a bid to appease minorities"''.


Suppressed campus democracy and youth agitations

Mamata Banerjee denied permission for Anti-CAA rallies and suppressed campus democracy in West Bengal. The West Bengal police denied permission to Aishe Ghosh to hold a rally at Durgapur in Bengal's West Burdwan district saying chief minister Mamata Banerjee was holding a roadshow at the same spot. "A huge crowd had assembled for the chief minister’s rally. Another rally at the same spot would have led to chaos," an officer from Durgapur police station said.


COVID-19 management

Banerjee and her government was widely criticised of the handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and was accused of concealing facts by the opposition, critics and many doctors. The opposition accused Mamata of playing "appeasement politics" amid the COVID-19 crisis. On 1 April, Banerjee claimed that the
West Bengal Government The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...
have already traced 54 people who attended the
Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encouraging fellow members t ...
religious gathering during the COVID-19 Outbreak, and 44 of them are foreigners. Although according to a report by central security agencies, 232 people had attended Delhi's Tablighi Jamaat event from West Bengal. Of this, 123 are Indian nationals and 109 are foreigners. The West Bengal Government has been also criticized for not sending enough samples to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) for testing. The government later banned use of cellphones in hospitals. However, Mamata Banerjee blamed BJP's IT cell for "using fake news to malign West Bengal’s health department". Many people were arrested for spreading fake news amid lockdown. FIR was lodged against a Bengal BJP MP also for raising "false alarm" over COVID-19 deaths in Bengal.


Personal life and recognitions

Throughout her political life, Banerjee has maintained a publicly austere lifestyle, dressing in simple traditional Bengali clothes and avoiding luxuries. During an interview in April 2019, Prime minister
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
claimed that despite their political differences, Banerjee sends her own selected ''kurtas'' and sweets to him every year (When Ms. Banerjee was asked about this in an interview, she said "We send all the good things of Bengal not only to him, but also to others belonging to different political parties." Australian Envoy Barry O'Farrell thanked her for sending sweets on the occasion of
Vijayadashami Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...
). In September 2019 when Ms. Jashodaben, the wife of PM Modi, was leaving Kolkata, Mamata met her at the Kolkata airport and gifted her a saree. She identifies herself as a
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
. Banerjee is a self-taught painter and a poet. Her 300 paintings were sold for ₹9crore ( 90 million, £990,000 or
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1,350,000). In 2012, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine named her as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. ''
Bloomberg Markets ''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial ma ...
'' magazine listed her among the 50 most influential people in the world of finance in September 2012. In 2018, she was conferred the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award. Banerjee stepped out into the streets of Kolkata during lockdown, caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, to spread awareness among the common people. "She has always been a fighter" said
Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha (, born 6 November 1937) is an Indian administrator and politician. He served as the Minister of Finance from 1990 until 1991 under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and again from March 1998 to July 2002 under Prime Minister Atal B ...
while disclosing that Mamata had offered to be a hostage as part of a negotiation strategy during the Kandahar hijacking crisis. "She was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the country" Sinha added. While appealing for maintaining religious harmony, Banerjee has reiterated the fact on numerous occasions that ''"''Religion is personal, but festivals are universal." In 2021, Mamata Banerjee was invited to attend ''World Meeting for Peace'' in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. She was the only Indian invited to attend the event. But in September, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denied her permission to attend the peace conference stating that the event was not "commensurate in status for participation by the chief minister of a state". BJP MP
Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu na ...
slammed Modi government on Banerjee's Rome visit cancelation. According to Indian Diplomat K. P. Fabian, the reason cited by MEA was unconvincing. Similarly, in December, Banerjee was denied permission by the MEA to visit
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. TIME magazine published its annual list of 'The 100 Most Influential People of 2021' on 15 September 2021. The list includes Mamata Banerjee among others. She received an honorary doctorate from the
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), formerly KIIT University, is a private deemed university located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It primarily emphasizes on higher education and research in engineering and science. It offers 3 ...
,
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
. She was also honoured with a Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) degree by
Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...
.


In popular culture

''
Baghini ''Baghini'' is a 1968 Bengali drama film directed by Bijay Bose and produced by Girindra Singha. The movie is based on a same name novel of Samaresh Basu. Soumitra Chatterjee stars as the main hero, Chiranjib, and Sandhya Roy plays the film's h ...
'', a Bengali film, inspired by Mamata Banerjee's life, was released on 24 May 2019. It is not a biopic.


Works in literature and other fields

Numerous books written by her have been published so far. On 2022, she was given ''Paschimbanga Akademy Award'' for 'Kabita Bitan' which consists of 946 poems. She is also a self-taught painter. Her paintings are auctioned several times. She is also a lyricist and her compositions are mostly based on '
Durga Puja Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...
' and 'Motherland'. 'Maa Go Tumi Sarbojanin' sung by
Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...
is one of her most popular songs.


See also

* Ma Mati Manush


Notelist


References


Further reading

;Books * * * * ;Journals *


External links

* * *
Official website (Chief Minister's office)

Official page on Trinamool Congress Party's website

Profile
at ''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, Mamata 1955 births Living people Indian political party founders Bengali Hindus Politicians from Kolkata Jogamaya Devi College alumni Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College alumni Shri Shikshayatan College alumni University of Calcutta alumni India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 Members of the Cabinet of India Railway Ministers of India Coal Ministers of India Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Chief Ministers of West Bengal India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Indian anti-communists Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Women members of the Cabinet of India Women chief ministers of Indian states Women members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Indian women painters 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Women members of the Lok Sabha India MPs 1984–1989 Hindu poets Women artists from West Bengal Painters from West Bengal 21st-century Indian women artists West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 West Bengal MLAs 2016–2021 West Bengal MLAs 2021–2026