KOLKATA: Stoked by veteran Trinamool MP Sougata Ray‘s “he should be removed as (party’s Lok Sabha) chief whip and none (in the party) likes him” comment and his WhatsApp texts in a closed group being gleefully shared by Bengal BJP, TMC MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee launched an unprecedented fusillade against a party MP, whom he did not name. In subsequent attacks, Banerjee did not spare Ray, and Kirti Azad, another TMC MP.
In a no-holds-barred attack, Banerjee questioned how a woman MP could ask BSF personnel at Nirvachan Sadan “to arrest him” and refer to him as a “chhotolok”. Banerjee also referred to Ray’s role in the Narada sting tapes and hit out at Azad for “advocating for a sweet shop”. He said he had complained to the party’s “top leadership”.
The issue referred to the April 4 deputation by TMC MPs to EC on the duplicate EPIC issue. Party MP Mahua Moitra, who was to be part of the delegation, arrived there to find her name missing from the list of signatories.
Banerjee claimed he did “only as instructed” and said he asked Moitra not to make it an issue. “She shouted at me, and so did I,” he added.
“The allegations that I denigrated her (as a woman) and abused her are false. There can be heated arguments among colleagues too, that is not the issue, but she asked the BSF (posted at EC) to arrest me. How can she say that? I am in politics for 40 years. I have all along fought against CPM, Congress and now BJP. She only speaks of Adani-Modi and not against a single BJP functionary. I protested that strongly, and yes, I spoke loudly,” Banerjee said.
Moitra, in Nadia, couldn’t be reached for comment. Since the controversy, she has not spoken about it in public.
On April 4, Banerjee apparently wrote about this in a WhatsApp group that only TMC MPs have access to. On Tuesday, BJP’s Amit Malviya, and later Bengal BJP, shared on X WA screenshots and videos on the incident.
The videos showed Banerjee shouting at his colleagues while entering EC office as party netas tried to calm him down. In the WA chats, Banerjee was seen having a tiff with Azad with the former referring to an unknown “versatile international lady.” In the purported chats, Banerjee had posted a message saying he had reached Kolkata.
Then he added, “Send your BSF and Delhi Police to arrest me. Your home ministry connection is very strong international great lady.”
If this was the first trigger for Banerjee’s outburst, the second was Ray when he confirmed the BJP allegations. Ray told reporters Banerjee should be removed as the chief whip of TMC in LS. “But I leave it to Mamata Banerjee’s judgment. That Kalyan is not fit to be in the post is apparent to me. I’ve not said it so far, but because of his behaviour and his incorrect English… I think the time has arrived to see into it,” Ray said.
Banerjee was belligerent in his attack on Ray, referring to the fact that the MP had accepted Narada cash and questioned his integrity.
