Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while campaigning for the Assembly elections in Nandigram, calling her the owner of “Trinamool Congress Private Limited”, ANI reported.
“TMC Private Limited owner is in Birulia [in Nandigram] with a bandage on her leg,” Adhikari said, referring to Banerjee’s roadshow in the district earlier on Monday. “The Managing Director is Bhaipo [Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee] and others are employees and small-time thieves.”
Adhikari hit back at the West Bengal chief minister for saying that his family will be “na ghar ka ghat ka”. The Hindi idiom translates to a person who is stuck in the middle and does not belong to either of the sides under consideration.
The BJP leader also claimed that Banerjee used filthy language against him. “Mamata Banerjee’s statements won’t make any impact here [in Nandigram],” he was quoted as saying by ANI. “She’ll get a befitting reply. She’ll make history when she runs away after losing. I would suggest her to get printed letter-pads with ex-MLA written on it.”
Banerjee is contesting the Assembly elections against Adhikari, her former aide, in Nandigram. Besides Suvendu Adhikari, his father Sisir Adhikari and brother Soumendu Adhikari have also joined the BJP.
Nandigram will go to polls in the second phase of West Bengal elections on April 1. Adhikari has claimed that he will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes. The Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, has said that Adhikari won the 2016 polls from the seat because of the party and Banerjee.
The first phase of the the West Bengal Assembly elections was held on March 27. The state recorded an approximate voter turnout of 79.79%.
TMC accuses Adhikari of ‘harbouring criminals’, writes to EC
The Trinamool Congress on Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission, accusing Adhikari of harbouring criminals in hotels and guest houses in the state, PTI reported.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien claimed in his letter to the chief electoral officer that the police took no action in this regard, in spite of being apprised of the matter.
In a separate letter, the Trinamool Congress alleged that “anti-social elements” of the BJP were camping in Nandigram to incite large-scale violence amid the elections, according to PTI. The party demanded that those “criminals” be taken into custody.
The Trinamool Congress also urged the Election Commission not to deploy police personnel from BJP-ruled states in West Bengal, for the remaining seven election phases.
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