After the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee was pushed to the margins of political wilderness. She managed to retain only her own seat. Then Trinamool lost the Kolkata municipal corporation polls in 2005 and the 2006 Assembly, when the party was reduced to just about 30 seats out of 294.

The gradual but steady desertions from the rank and file were like salt to injury. But a handful stayed back by her side, forming a core group to begin from scratch. While the party has always been a one-woman show, a small group of loyalists, often obscure and working from behind, egged her on. They stood amidst the ruins to get her the glory that is hers now.

The group is a mix of ex-corporates, doctors, a quizmaster and a few fresh political faces. It includes people like Mukul Roy, Partho Chatterjee, Derek O’Brien, Madan Mitra, Subrata Bakshi, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Gautam Ghosh and Dinesh Trivedi.

Subrata Bakshi

The Trinamool president who has been with Mamata since the inception of the party, is a former employee of the State Bank of India. Mamata’s chief election agent, he was MLA from Bishnupur in 2001 and represents Chowringhee now.

Partho Chatterjee

Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, he was General Manager with Andrew Yule & Co before joining the TMC. Chatterjee, who had an earlier stint with Mamata during her Chhatra Parishad days, is a two-term MLA.

Mukul Roy

A Rajya Sabha member, he lost the Assembly elections in 2001. Roy is the party’s coordinator with the Election Commission and is a long-time associate of Mamata who followed her when she broke away from the Congress.

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