On a Friday night at Kolkata airport, a Trinamool Congress leader returning from Delhi walked toward the exit and, according to his party, passed a man who had come to harm him. Such moments belong to a long human pattern in which political rivalry hardens into suspicion, and the line between a threat and a claim of one is not always easy to see from outside. The account now lives in party videos and statements, its central details still waiting for the independent confirmation that would give them weight.
TMC's O'Brien alleges armed BJP supporter at Kolkata airport exit during Abhishek Banerjee's departure
Armed man at exit. Nabbed by women supporters of TMC. Bengal Police?
Mark
Let's start simply. What is Derek O'Brien actually claiming?
Mimi
That a BJP supporter with a firearm was standing at the Kolkata airport exit on Friday night, minutes before Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee and O'Brien walked out around 9.45 pm. He calls it a possible attempt to murder.
Luke
Worth saying plainly: that's his characterisation. The question mark in his post is doing real work.
Mark
And the video?
Mimi
It was posted by the party's official handle. It shows a man surrounded by women, with some people holding him, and O'Brien says he was nabbed by women supporters.
Luke
But the video comes from the party itself. As described, it shows a man being held. It doesn't establish a gun, his affiliation, or his intent.
Mark
The party goes further, though, doesn't it?
Mimi
Yes. It calls it a state-sponsored attempt to eliminate a political opponent and blames law and order under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Luke
That's a large claim resting on an unconfirmed incident. No police statement is reported.
Mark
Why does the timing matter?
Mimi
Banerjee had just been in Delhi to meet Speaker Om Birla and challenge the rebel MPs' merger with the NCPI. The party is also split, with 58 MLAs in a separate faction.
Luke
Context isn't evidence, though. It explains why the claim is politically charged, not whether it's true.
Der Puls
- A party alleges that an armed man stood at the airport exit just minutes before Abhishek Banerjee walked out.
- Women supporters reportedly seized the man, and footage of him being escorted away is now circulating online.
- Trinamool leaders frame the episode as a state-sponsored attempt to eliminate a rival, a charge that sharpens an already bitter standoff.
- The party is pressing the police to answer, while the identity of the man and whether he held a weapon remain unverified.
- The claim unfolds amid a deepening split in the party, with most of its MPs in revolt and the next official word still pending.
On a Friday night at Kolkata airport, a Trinamool Congress leader returning from Delhi walked toward the exit and, according to his party, passed a man who had come to harm him. Such moments belong to a long human pattern in which political rivalry hardens into suspicion, and the line between a threat and a claim of one is not always easy to see from outside. The account now lives in party videos and statements, its central details still waiting for the independent confirmation that would give them weight.
Late on Friday, Abhishek Banerjee and his colleagues walked out of Kolkata airport after returning from Delhi, where Banerjee had gone to challenge the merger of rebel MPs into the NCPI. According to the Trinamool Congress, a man carrying a firearm had already been standing at the exit moments earlier, and women supporters reportedly caught him there.
On Saturday, Derek O'Brien shared a video that the party had posted the night before, calling the man a BJP supporter and asking whether the episode amounted to an attempt to murder. The party's own statement went further, describing a goon armed with weapons and accusing the state government of letting criminals act with impunity.
The allegation lands in a party already fractured, with two-thirds of its MPs in revolt and dozens of MLAs forming a separate faction. Nothing yet establishes who the man was, whether he was armed, or what he intended, and the police response has not been reported. For now, the story rests on party videos and statements, and the next thing to watch is what officials say about the man taken away from the exit.
At around 9.45 on Friday night, Trinamool Congress leaders walked out of Kolkata airport. According to the party, a man carrying a firearm was already standing at the exit minutes earlier. On Saturday, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien put that claim in front of the public, sharing a video and asking on X whether it amounted to an "attempt to murder."
O'Brien said the man was a "BJP supporter." He wrote that the incident happened minutes before Abhishek Banerjee, TMC's national general secretary, walked out along with Kalyan Banerjee and O'Brien himself. In his account, women supporters of the party caught the man at the exit. He then asked a pointed question of the state's force: "Bengal Police?" and added that the videos said it all.
The video O'Brien shared had first been posted on Friday night by the official handle of the All India Trinamool Congress. It shows the man surrounded by women, with some people physically holding him. Footage of the man being escorted away by TMC supporters is what O'Brien pointed to as proof.
The party's own post was sharper than O'Brien's. It described a "goon" of the state BJP unit, armed with weapons, who possibly planned to murder Banerjee. It said criminals now roam freely and carry out brazen attacks with impunity under the watch of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. It closed with a challenge: if this was not a state-sponsored attempt to eliminate a political opponent, then what was?
Banerjee was returning from Delhi, where he had gone on Friday to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. His purpose was to challenge the merger of rebel TMC MPs with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, or NCPI.
The NCPI is a Tripura-based party that has abruptly moved into national attention. Its organisational footprint is limited, but it has welcomed a stream of high-profile leaders. Its national organising secretary, Shantanu Dey, has said he wants to see the party grow and work in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.
The airport episode lands amid a widening split inside the TMC. Two-thirds of the party's MPs have rebelled, and 58 of its MLAs have formed a separate faction in the West Bengal assembly. Speaker Rathindra Bose has recognised Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition.
What remains unreported is how the police responded. Nothing in the account establishes the man's identity, whether he actually held a weapon, or what he intended, and no official findings have been described. The claims rest on party statements and party-released video, so the next thing to watch is whether police say anything about the man who was taken away from the exit.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
BJP SUPPORTER WITH A GUN. Chilling video. More proof from outside Kolkata airport last night. Attempt to murder?— Derek O'Brien, TMC MP, on X
If this is not a STATE-SPONSORED ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE A POLITICAL OPPONENT, then what is?— All India Trinamool Congress official post
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