TMC MP LASHES OUT AT ABHISHEK BANERJEE, STIRS CONTROVERSY

On Thursday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee stirred controversy after saying that party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee should not have aired his view of prohibiting all political and other party activities in West Bengal for two months amid the surge in COVID-19 in public and for indicating that he had breached the party discipline.

TMC has taken serious view of Kalyan Banerjee’s comments and supported Abhishek Banerjee’s views, party spokesman Kunal Ghosh said.

“Abhishek Banerjee is the party’s supreme leader after Mamata Banerjee,” Ghosh said.

“If a leader like Abhishek says something, we as ordinary soldiers of the party should listen to it in silence,” he added.

Taking a dig at Ghosh, Kalyan Banerjee said it is “better” for him “to die than to have to take a certificate from a person like Ghosh”.

Kalyan Banerjee further reiterated that Mamata Banerjee, who helms the government in West Bengal, will take the right administrative decision considering the situation on the ground as well as health issues.

He questioned as to why Abhishek Banerjee did not press for suspending political activities in five states where assembly polls will be held in February-March when he himself is the national general secretary of a contesting party.

“The pandemic is equally bad elsewhere as well…There can be other opinion regarding measures taken by the administration about crisis situations like COVID-19. But that has to be aired within the party forum,” Kalyan Banerjee said.