West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday met her party’s MLAs in Kolkata and told them to be more humble with the public and, where necessary, to apologise for past mistakes. It was her first meeting with the legislators since the Lok Sabha election, in which the BJP took 18 of the state’s 42 seats, only four fewer than the TMC.

Message to MLAs

A TMC MLA said the party chief had asked all legislators to connect with ordinary people and to say sorry for errors made in the past if needed. According to a senior leader, Banerjee voiced confidence that the party would recover in the 2021 Assembly election, asked workers to start preparing and urged them to bring old members back into the party.

Another senior leader said MLAs had been asked to submit four names for every booth, to handle booth organisation and the IT cell and to take the state government’s welfare schemes to the people.

Rebuke over ‘cut money’

Party sources said Banerjee scolded some senior MLAs for comments during the Lok Sabha campaign that had upset voters. She asked leaders to look within and criticised a section of them for the party’s poor showing in the general election.

She also accused some leaders of not working in their areas and of being keen to take “cut money”, or illegal commissions, from people in return for benefits under government schemes. Elected representatives in municipalities and panchayats have been facing public anger over the issue.

What happened next

In the 2021 West Bengal assembly election, the Trinamool Congress won 215 seats and the BJP 77, and Mamata Banerjee remained Chief Minister.

See also: elections, political leaders.

Originally published on 12 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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