Kolkata, Oct 30 TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday claimed that if the BJP loses power in West Bengal after five years, the first person to leave the party would be Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The opposition leader also said that Adhikari, who quit the TMC in December 2020 to join the BJP, should sign an affidavit stating that he would remain in the saffron party forever.
Accusing Adhikari of having used the CBI, ED and NIA against the TMC when he was in the opposition,
Banerjee said, “We do not have any such entity with us, but we have not bowed down as we are true Bengalis. Instead of being a pet dog of Delhi, it is much more respectable to live as a Royal Bengal tiger.”
Talking to reporters here, he alleged that the CM was suffering from “Trinamool phobia” despite having intimidated many MPs and MLAs of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction into joining other factions.
Claiming that the CM mostly spoke about him during his public speeches, Banerjee said, “After five years, you (Adhikari) will be 61 years old, while I will be 43-44 years old. Your strength will deplete while mine will increase.”
He claimed that his 12-year-old daughter was threatened with rape and that his party offices were vandalised.
Referring to Adhikari’s remark asking the 71-year-old former CM Mamata Banerjee to take rest since she has grown old, the Diamond Harbour MP claimed that by doing so, he had, in fact, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is 76.
“He may have been prompted by some leaders from Delhi to target the PM regarding his age,” Banerjee said.
Referring to Adhikari’s recent assertion that the ruling BJP will get 275 votes if a confidence vote were held in the assembly now, he said, “Where is the question of floor test coming from? It is because he (Adhikari) knows this government is temporary.”
The CM recently said that though the BJP won 209 seats in the West Bengal assembly elections, the party would get at least 275 votes in a confidence vote, indirectly referring to the 64 MLAs of the Ritabrata Banerjee faction which broke away from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC after the poll results.
The TMC had won 80 seats in the 294-seat West Bengal assembly polls.
“If the BJP is not in power after five years, the first person to leave would be Suvendu Adhikari, and that is why the B-team led by Ritabrata Banerjee was formed,” Banerjee said.
He accused Adhikari of changing parties like porting mobile phone connectivity, stating that he had first been with the Congress, then the TMC and now the BJP.
“I have never changed my allegiance to the Trinamool Congress,” Banerjee, who is the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, said.
“Let Adhikari state in an affidavit that he will stay with the BJP forever,” he said.
Claiming that the CM’s nephew Devdeep Adhikari was the chief patron of the Chorbagan Durga Puja Committee, where 19 people lost their lives in a stampede on October 17 on the first day of the festival, Banerjee said Adhikari has stopped referring to the MP as “Bhaipo” (nephew) since the incident.
BJP leaders used to describe Abhishek Banerjee as “Bhaipo”, without referring to him by name, during their political attacks.
“He (CM) knows very well that his nephew will be incarcerated after a change in the government… He is suffering from phobia; my best wishes to him,” the Diamond Harbour MP said.
Stating that he is nearing the age of 40 years, Banerjee said he has never seen anyone dying in a stampede while visiting a Durga Puja pandal, and asked Adhikari to take proper care of law and order as he is in charge of the state’s Home (Police) department.
“Not only in our 15 years of government, but also during the previous Congress and Left Front rule, Bengal’s people have not seen in the last 40 years any such incident,” he said.
The MP claimed that North Indian culture was being imported into Bengal to sideline the state’s own heritage.
Banerjee said he will not only go to Diamond Harbour, but will also visit Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district, from where the CM hailed.
Banerjee said that some media houses have reported that the advisor to the CM, Subrata Gupta, recently denied having any knowledge of who had given the go-ahead for appeals against the inclusion of 16 lakh names in the voter list.
Gupta had served as the observer for the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The EC on Monday told the Supreme Court that the appeals were filed by poll officials in the state.
The TMC MP’s statement came amid controversy over large-scale voter deletions, allegations of targeted disenfranchisement and administrative opacity surrounding the SIR.
(PTI News)
