Mamata Banerjee is an Indian politician and lawyer who has served as the 8th chief minister of West Bengal since 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office. She is the founder and president of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC).
๐ Early Life and Education
Banerjee was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, to a Bengali Brahmin family. Her parents were Promileswar Banerjee and Gayetri Devi. Banerjee’s father died due to lack of medical treatment when she was 17.
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. Later, she earned her master’s degree in Islamic history from the University of Calcutta, followed by a degree in education and a law degree.
๐ณ๏ธ Political Career Beginnings
Banerjee became involved with politics when she was only 15. While studying at Jogamaya Devi College, she established Chhatra Parishad Unions, the student wing of the Congress (I) Party. In 1975 she gained attention when she danced on the car of socialist activist Jayaprakash Narayan as a protest during the Emergency.
In the 1984 general election, Banerjee became one of India’s youngest parliamentarians ever, defeating veteran Communist politician Somnath Chatterjee. She lost her seat in the 1989 general elections but was re-elected in 1991.
๐ Union Minister and Trinamool Congress
Banerjee was appointed Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Women and Child Development in 1991. She founded the AITC in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress. In 1999, she joined the BJP-led NDA government and became Railways Minister.
She previously served twice as Minister of Railways, becoming the first woman to do so. She is also the second female Minister of Coal, and Minister of Human Resource Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, Women and Child Development.
โ๏ธ Chief Minister of West Bengal
In 2011, Banerjee pulled off a landslide victory for the AITC alliance in West Bengal, defeating the 34-year-old Left Front government. She led her party to a landslide victory in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls. She made history as the first sitting Chief Minister of India to argue as a lawyer in the Supreme Court.
She served as a member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Bhabanipur from 2011 to 2021. She contested the Nandigram assembly seat and lost to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in the 2021 state election. She got elected as member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly again from Bhabanipur constituency in the bypoll.
๐ Key Political Events
In December 1992, Banerjee took a physically challenged girl to Writers’ Building but was harassed by police before being arrested. On 21 July 1993, a protest march led by Banerjee to Writers’ Building resulted in thirteen people being shot and killed by police. In 1997, Banerjee left the Congress (I) Party and became a founding member of the All India Trinamool Congress.
In 2000, she and Ajit Kumar Panja resigned to protest the hike in petroleum prices, then withdrew their resignations. In early 2001, Banerjee walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengal’s 2001 elections. She returned to the NDA government in September 2003 as a cabinet minister without any portfolio.
| Year | Event | Position | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | General Election | MP from Jadavpur | Won |
| 1998 | Founded AITC | Founder/President | Party established |
| 2011 | State Assembly Election | Chief Minister | Won landslide |
| 2021 | State Assembly Election | Chief Minister | Won landslide |