BJP MLA says ‘khela hobe’ in Dec, claims Bengal govt will fall; TMC hits back
BJP's Agnimitra Paul alleged that over 30 TMC MLAs are in touch with her party, while saying Bengal is moving towards a “financial emergency” and accusing chief minister Mamata Banerjee of running a “bankrupt government”.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul and TMC's Madan Mitra engaged in a war of words on Tuesday after the former claimed that the West Bengal government will fall in December this year.
Paul alleged that more than 30 MLAs of the ruling TMC are in touch with the saffron camp, while accusing chief minister Mamata Banerjee of running a “bankrupt government”.
“There will be a 'khela' here in December. More than 30 TMC MLAs are in contact with our party. They know that their Govt will not continue for long after December. Their existence is at stake,” the BJP MLA told news agency ANI.
She further stated that her party will not tell the strategy, but “something will happen”. “We are moving towards a financial emergency. It is a bankrupt government. They do not have money. How would they work? 50 per cent of those running the state are in jail. The rest 50 per cent will also go to jail. Who will run the government?” Paul was quoted as saying.
To this, Mitra stated Paul actually wanted to say that “30 BJP MLAs want to join TMC, but she couldn't say it directly”. “Face of the country against PM Modi is Mamata Banerjee. We'll take all days of December. Before December ends BJP will be wiped out,” he added.
Paul's statements come weeks after the Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed in September that Banerjee would be arrested and that more than 40 TMC leaders were in touch with his party. He had also made similar claims of the TMC-led Bengal government collapsing in December.
Paul and Majumdar are not the only BJP leaders, who made the claim of TMC MLAs switching sides. Film star and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty had alleged on multiple occasions that he is in “touch with 21 MLAs” of Banerjee's party.
The BJP leaders' claims started making rounds after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested TMC leader and former Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee in the jobs scam case earlier this year. Meanwhile, another TMC heavyweight Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the federal agency in cattle smuggling case.
