When Didi doned the black gown: Law firm partners, Serampore MP brains behind Mamata Banerjee’s legal foray

KOLKATA: After chief minister Mamata Banerjee told her legal team that she "wished to speak from my heart, like an ordinary citizen" nearly a week ago, the team members—Serampore MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee, Fox & Mandal managing partner Debanjan Mandal, senior associate Mahima Cholera and advocate on record and partner Kunal Mimani—started working behind the scene. The four lawyers remained Banerjee's constant companions even as she stepped into the courtroom on Wednesday.

"In order to address the Supreme Court, she always told the legal team that she would speak from her heart as an ordinary citizen. She feels the problem of the common voter. The legal team made PowerPoint presentations for her, which she went over line by line on the weekend and gave her inputs," a lawyer, aware of the developments, said. "Banerjee was seen making the final changes even inside the courtroom even as she revised the presentation points while waiting for her matter to be called in the court. Armed with some pages of the presentation and her notes, she addressed the court with folded hands."

The chief minister, who has a law degree, was very particular and told her legal team to ensure all legal and technical issues were first addressed by lawyers, after which she would take over and bring the ground realities of Bengal and the hardship faced by the people of Bengal to the court's attention. "CM Banerjee maintained that her role was to give voice to all those who were made to wait in queues for hours or travel long distances to protect their voting rights. The legal team welcomed her approach as it provided the much-needed force to the legal battle," another lawyer said.

A week ago, Banerjee asked her long-time aide and MP Kalyan Banerjee whether she could place her case in the highest judicial body in the country. The veteran lawyer and MP, who fought multiple legal battles for the Trinamool, had only one suggestion: that she could do it as "Mamata Banerjee and not as the chief minister of the state". "Feelings, along with law, are very important. Today, the CM fought on facts with feelings for people's pain," Kalyan told TOI.