Kolkata: Amid the raging phone call row between the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Suvendu Adhikari, said he has received a letter from the TMC warning him of legal action if he does not withdraw his claims that Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had called Union Home Minister Amit Shah to seek help after her party was stripped of its national party status by the Election Commission (EC).
Suvendu said he will give his response to the TMC’s notice, adding that he was planning to approach the court against Mamata for her comments against Shah. Addressing a virtual press conference at the state secretariat, the CM denied Suvendu’s statement that she dialled Shah after the TMC had lost its national party status recently. Mamata said she will resign if it is proved that she had phoned Shah.
Her statement came after Suvendu had claimed that she had made phone calls to the Union Home Minister to urge him to help the TMC retain its national party status. The TMC was stripped of its national party status by the EC in the wake of a review of its eligibility by the poll body.
At a press conference in Kolkata, Suvendu said, “I have received a letter, initial legal notice from her (Mamata’s) team. I will reply to it. I want to say that I challenge her to go to court. According to rules, I cannot RTI or get details of phone calls of a chief minister. However, if she goes to court, I will make BSNL and TRAI a party and will seek call details of the CM from March 4 to April 12. The matter will be cleared in court. I accept her challenge and she should accept mine.”
Suvendu also charged, “In two press conferences recently, the chief minister used unparliamentary words not only against me but also against the Union Home Minister. She said the Union Home Minister, in his recent visit to Kolkata, held a closed door meeting and planned riots… A day after Ram Navami riots (in Howrah), while speaking with a television channel she instigated violence.” He added, “We are also planning to go to court with all this.”
The LoP said the TMC dispensation was “scared” as it was facing a real Opposition now. “After 2011, CPI(M) could not put up a fight. In 2016, CPI(M) and Congress had an alliance. But there was the politics of influencing Delhi leaders. This time TMC is facing a real Opposition. It is also a fact that due to rampant corruption in the state by the ruling party leaders and MLAs, it is on the back foot. Chief Minister is nervous. More MLAs will be arrested and jailed,” he alleged.
“I will quit politics if I fail to democratically defeat Mamata and make her a former chief minister,” he added.