Amid growing rebellion and public allegations against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) following its defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election, Saayoni Ghosh has launched a blistering counterattack against dissidents, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and sections of the media.

Defending Mamata Banerjee at a time when several former TMC leaders and workers have begun speaking out against the party, Ghosh said those unwilling to stand by the leadership during ‘dire stress’ were better off leaving.

“I am comparatively new in politics, but want to say this, in this hour of dire stress, the party workers who will leave Mamata Banerjee are not required, and it’s better they quit TMC as soon as possible,” she said.

 
 

The Jadavpur MP also hit out at critics who have accused the TMC of atrocities only after the party lost power in Bengal.

“People change colours during hard times to save themselves. If they indeed had issues with us, there was enough space inside the party to address them. They did not open their mouths until now,” she said.

In one of her sharpest remarks, Ghosh alleged that some party workers quietly shifted loyalties once the election trend became clear on counting day.

“These complainants are the same people who were inside the booths alongside me as counting agents. Suddenly, they ran to Kolaghat to have lunch with BJP leaders after 1 pm on May 4, when they figured out what the election results were turning out to be,” she claimed.

Ghosh also launched an attack on sections of the media, accusing them of double standards in their coverage of welfare schemes.

“This is the same media which, for the longest time, slammed Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Lakshmi Bhandar’ scheme, terming it as ‘donating alms’, but is now trumpeting BJP schemes as a ‘masterstroke’. I think it’s time for the media to self-introspect,” she said.

On allegations surrounding a so-called “Tollywood mafia”, the actor-turned-politician responded sarcastically: “Good for them. We will be the happiest if they can transform Tollywood into Hollywood.”

She also asserted that acting and politics would continue side by side in her career, adding that her choices would not be dictated by what she called the “BJP-sponsored media”.