Riju Dutta, who was recently suspended from the Trinamool Congress for which he was its national spokesman, issued an unconditional public apology on Sunday to Uttar Pradesh police officer Ajay Pal Sharma — the man he attacked on camera just weeks ago, on behalf of his party. The Mamata Banerjee-led party has since lost to the BJP, the ruling party of UP and the Centre.
Dutta’s apology, delivered in a video statement, came with a warning. He said he was acting on the advice of “senior BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh” and his legal counsel. He stressed, more than once, that the original statements were not personal, and that the video in which he attacked Sharma was recorded at the headquarters of the Military Council, in his capacity as the party’s national spokesman, and was published through the party’s official social media accounts.
“This was not a personal comment,” he said. He then described himself as an “ordinary person” who hoped to “live in peace with my family and continue my life.” He expressed his hope that “it will be over forever”, speaking and captioning the video in Hindi.
What Dutta originally said
In late April, the Election Commission of India posted Ajay Pal Sharma — a 2011-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, who is currently posted as Additional Commissioner of Police in Prayagraj — as Superintendent of Police for South 24 Parganas ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Sharma immediately made headlines when he visited the residence of close aide of TMC second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee and TMC candidate Jehangir Khan following complaints of voter intimidation. He issued an on-camera warning to Khan’s family, and the footage went viral as evidence of alleged “excesses” by forces loyal to the BJP regime. The BJP has hailed Ajay Sharma as the ‘Singham’ of UP, in reference to the vigilant cop character played by Ajay Devgn in the film of that name.
The TMC was furious, and Dutta was the party’s leader on the issue. Sharma was called “(UP CM) Yogi Adityanath’s trigger-happy cowboy”; He said that he “was parachuted in by the Election Commission”; They accused him of fake confrontations and corruption. The video was amplified via TMC’s official handles.
Then came the election results
When the votes were counted on May 4, the BJP won 207 seats in the 294-seat assembly. The Transitional Military Council collapsed to 80 seats, ending its 15-year rule.
Within 48 hours, cracks within the TMC were open, and this time Dutta was the face of the rift.
Dutta posted a video saying that when his in-laws were attacked on the counting day, May 4, by what he described as “self-proclaimed BJP workers who had already shifted camps from TMC”, he made contact with senior TMC leaders and “did not receive any response”. He said that the people who intervened to prevent the situation from escalating were BJP leaders. He described this as a “sin of non-confession.”
He also publicly praised the BJP government’s measures to control post-election violence – a statement the TMC viewed as anti-party.
Transitional Military Council campaign before apology
The TMC’s disciplinary committee, led by MP Derek O’Brien, issued show-cause notices to five spokespersons within days, questioning why no action was taken for a “breach of party discipline”. Responses requested within 24 hours.
On May 9, Dutta, along with spokespersons Kohinoor Majumdar and Kartik Ghosh, were suspended for six years. Majumdar had publicly complained about party leaders being made to wait for hours to meet Abhishek Banerjee. Ghosh had criticized the leadership campaign strategy.
As for Dutta, Bangladesh BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has already publicly indicated that Dutta may be “looking at a future in the BJP”, following the suspended leader’s recent praise of opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari. Dutta did not comment on this.
