It was 1:00 AM on a silent summer night in 1993. Mamata Banerjee, then a firebrand Youth Congress leader and Union Minister, stood alone at the Mayo Road crossing under the gaze of the Gandhi statue. She had just been released from police custody, the culmination of a day that would define her political trajectory for nearly two decades.
That night, Banerjee made a solemn vow: She would never return to the Writers’ Building—the state’s secretariat—until she did so as the Chief Minister.
The Catalyst: A Fight for Justice
The confrontation began on May 6, 1993, centered around a brutal case of injustice:
-
The Victim: Dipali Basak, a speech- and hearing-impaired girl from Nadia, who had allegedly been raped by a CPM worker.
-
The Conflict: Local police had refused to register a complaint. Banerjee, then the Youth Congress chief, took up the cause and demanded a meeting with Chief Minister Jyoti Basu.
-
The Snub: Despite having a scheduled 3:00 PM appointment, Basu left the secretariat without meeting Banerjee, citing a busy schedule.
Chaos at the Secretariat
Infuriated by the dismissal, Banerjee refused to leave. She squatted in the corridors of the Writers’ Building alongside the pregnant survivor, demanding the arrest of the accused. The standoff lasted three hours until the police intervened:
“The police resorted to lathi-charging the protesters. The pregnant survivor was injured and rushed to the hospital, while Banerjee was physically hauled into a police van.” — Rikta Kundu, former Mahila Congress President (Nadia).
From the Lock-up to the Vow
Despite her status as a Union Minister, Banerjee was taken to the Lalbazar police headquarters and placed in a lock-up. Following her release late that night—facilitated by police officials wary of the growing, agitated crowds outside—she stopped at the Mayo Road crossing to reflect.
The humiliation of being forcibly evicted from the halls of power fueled a legendary 18-year boycott.
Keeping the Promise
Banerjee’s self-imposed exile from the state secretariat lasted until the historic transition of power in West Bengal:
| Key Date | Event |
| May 6, 1993 | Forcefully evicted and detained; the 18-year vow begins. |
| 1993 – 2011 | Banerjee conducts her politics from the streets and the Parliament, never entering the Writers’ Building. |
| May 20, 2011 | Mamata Banerjee enters the Writers’ Building for the first time in 18 years to take charge as West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister. |
The “Throwback” serves as a reminder of the “street-fighter” roots of the Trinamool Congress supremo, showcasing a political journey built on a refusal to forget a perceived slight against the marginalized.
