The book gained significant attention when it was released around the first anniversary of the TMC government in 2012. Its release was marked by controversy, including reports of attempts to disrupt book launches and incidents involving the seizing of copies.
For those interested in reading the full text or detailed excerpts, digital versions are available on platforms like . Physical copies have historically been listed on Amazon India and produced by Kolkata Prakashana Mamata Bandhopadhyay ke Jemon Dekhechi - Amazon.in
She is, first and foremost, a poet and a painter. Harsh critics might say her art is amateurish. But watch her at the annual Nandan Mela (art festival). She doesn't inaugurate it and leave. She walks for two hours, stopping at every college student’s stall. She will tell a 20-year-old painter, "Tomar chhobi-te rebel ta nei. Ektu beshi rage aanko." (Your painting lacks rebellion. Paint with more rage.) mamata banerjee ke ami jemon dekhechi
In 2019, during a road show in North Kolkata, a local party worker jokingly said, "Didi, ektu dhorte deben." (Please walk a little slower). She stopped. Her eyes flamed. She turned around and said, "You tell me to slow down? You were not with me when I was beaten by the police in 1993. Do not teach me politics."
In my observation, Mamata Banerjee defies easy categorization. She is not the ideal liberal icon nor the perfect development czar. She is a regional satrap with national ambition, a poet with a club, a democrat who uses autocratic methods. The book gained significant attention when it was
In the noisy theatre of Indian politics, few figures stand as polarized or as passionately defended as Mamata Banerjee. To her supporters, she is ‘Didi’ (elder sister)—the unyielding protector of Bengali pride. To her detractors, she is a temperamental autocrat who thrives on street politics. But after two decades of watching her from the press box, the treasury bench, and the dusty roads of Singur, I feel compelled to write: Mamata Banerjee ke ami jemon dekhechi , she is neither the saint nor the demon she is made out to be.
Often referred to or translated as "Mamata Banerjee—As I Have Known Her" . 🔍 Availability Physical copies have historically been listed on Amazon
The book covers her rise from grassroots activism to leadership, highlighting her contradictions, political complexities, and behind-the-scenes decision-making.