Abhijit Mukherjee rejoins Congress after nearly four years in TMC | Watch

Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s son and ex-Jangipur MP Abhijit Mukherjee has rejoined the Congress after nearly four years in the Trinamool Congress (TMC). He returned to the party at Bidhan Bhavan, the West Bengal Congress headquarters, in the presence of state unit observer Ghulam Ahmed Mir and state president Shuvankar Sarkar. Mukherjee had joined the TMC in 2021 but remained largely inactive in political activities.

Mukherjee, an engineer by profession, entered politics after working in corporate firms. He won the 2012 Jangipur Lok Sabha bypoll on a Congress ticket after his father became President. He retained the seat in the 2014 general election but lost to TMC’s Khalilur Rahaman in 2019. Following his defeat, he distanced himself from Congress and joined the TMC, crediting Mamata Banerjee for stopping the BJP in Bengal. However, he later admitted he regretted the switch. “The nephew of Mamata Banerjee (Abhishek Banerjee) called me and I joined TMC. But soon after, I realized I did wrong,” he said.

Congress sources indicate that Mukherjee’s return may position him as a candidate in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. His homecoming comes amid internal debates in the Congress, with his sister, Sharmistha Mukherjee, questioning Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip on December 26, immediately after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s death. The Congress has not yet announced any official role for Mukherjee in the party’s Bengal unit.

During his political career, Mukherjee has faced controversies, including his 2012 remark on the Delhi gangrape protests, where he referred to women demonstrators as “dented and painted.” The comment drew widespread criticism, after which he issued an apology. His tenure in both the Congress and TMC has been marked by periods of political activity and disengagement.