Mamata Banerjee Birthday 2024: Trinamool Congress chief’s political journey

Trinamool Congress TMC Chief and West Bengalrsquos chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be celebrating her 68th birthday on January 5 Famously also known as Didi and Bengal Tigress Banerjee is renowned for her strongwilled selfminded personality and fierce politicsAlthough most of her politics is concentrated in West Bengal Banerjee has also served in the central government and was twice the railway minister of the country first during the NDA government and then during the UPA government Since 2011 Banerjee is the chief minister of West Bengal running her third consecutive term as the Chief Minister She is the first woman to hold the CM office in the stateOn the occasion of her birthday we take a look at her unwavering political careerJourney with Congress Born on January 1955 in Kolkatta Banerjee got involved in politics at the young age of 15 While studying at the Jogamaya Devi College she formed the student wing of the Congress I Party defeating the All India Democratic Students Organisation affiliated with the Socialist Unity Centre of India Communist She continued in the Congress I Party in West Bengal and served in a number of positions She later worked with other local political organisations tooBanerjee came to limelight in 1975 when she danced on politician Jayprakash Narayanrsquos car expressing her protest against him Her political journey took off and she rose to positions within Congress party to become one of the youngest parliamentarians in 1984 general elections Banerjee was appointed the Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development Youth Affairs and Sports and Women and Child Development in 1991Founding Trinamool Congress and alliance with NDAIn 1997 due to political differences with Congress in West Bengal Banerjee exited the party and became the founding member of TMC In 1999 she joined the BJPled NDA alliance and became countryrsquos first woman railway minister In 2001 Banerjee walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengals 2001 elections However Didi returned to the NDA in 2004Political setback In 2004 general elections her party allied with BJP and lost the elections However she was the only TMC leader in West Bengal to be elected as parliamentarian Despite not being in power she was politically active and in limelight She joined several protests during this period including the protest against industrial development policy in West BengalIn November 2006 Banerjee started the famous Singur rally protesting against the TATA motors car project However she was stopped on her way which led the TMC MLArsquos react violently and Banerjee also went on 26hour hunger strikeIn 2007 the Nandigram violence occurred where armed police stormed the area to quash the protest organized by TMC TMC was protesting against governmentrsquos plan to expropriate 10000 acres of Special Economic Zone land to be developed by a private companyReturn to UPA Before 2009 general elections Banerjee again allied with the UPA led by the Congress The alliance won the elections and Didi joined the central cabinet as a railway minister for the second time In 2011 Banerjee decided to return to her state and became the first woman chief minister of West Bengal The TMC in alliance with Congress won the state with a sweeping majority Since then this is her third term as the CM of West Bengal In 2016 and despite BJPrsquos strong political campaign in 2021 TMC under Banerjeersquos leadership won the state with landslide victoryINDIA Alliance Currently Mamata Banerjee is part of the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance or INDIA alliance formed in July 2023 with a primary objective to defeat the ruling NDA led by BJP in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections The alliance consists of 28 political parties and several political leaders have mentioned that the backronym INDIA was suggested by BanerjeeAll in all Mamata Banerjee as her fans call her Bengal Tigress has always been strongwilled and fierce in her decades long political journey She is one of the strongest women political leaders not only within the country but in the world considering the unwavering support she has in West Bengal and her strongheaded fearless political voice