WB assembly fiasco: Adhir says Mamata 'paid back in her own coin', woos disillusioned TMC workers

Business To Business, Kolkata, 3^rd June, 2026:   Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday took a swipe at Mamata Banerjee amid the ongoing turmoil within the All India Trinamool Congress, saying she was being "paid back in her own coin."
Addressing a press conference during the escalating dispute over the leadership of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Chowdhury drew parallels between the current crisis in the TMC and the defections that affected the Indian National Congress in West Bengal after the 2016 Assembly elections.
Referring to the developments, he remarked that "history has a nasty habit of repeating itself," suggesting that the political challenges now confronting the TMC resemble the circumstances that previously weakened the Congress in the state.
Chowdhury also used the occasion to reach out to what he described as grassroots TMC workers who may be disillusioned by the current situation. He said the Congress remained open to those who had supported the TMC out of conviction and had faced political difficulties while working for the party.
His comments come at a time when the TMC is facing an internal leadership dispute, with dissident legislators claiming majority support within the legislature party and seeking recognition of an alternative leadership structure in the Assembly.
The remarks reflect the Congress's political assessment of the situation, while the ultimate outcome of the leadership dispute will depend on developments within the TMC and any decisions taken by the Assembly authorities regarding competing claims of support.