BJP MP Saumitra Khan, on Sunday, said Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra will have to join the BJP in two years. The statement comes amid reports of bad blood between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Moitra—Banerjee had reportedly publicly castigated Moitra for infighting in TMC's Nadia district unit before the municipal elections. "Mamata Banerjee uses everyone. Mahua Moitra also will not stay there [in TMC] for long because she will not get the ticket from TMC after two years. Only the position of her [TMC chief Mamata Banerjee] nephew can remain intact forever in TMC. Mahua Moitra, as an MP, speaks well and she will have to join the BJP after two years. We are waiting for that," Khan said, reported news agency ANI.
BJP had earlier pounced on Banerjee's public display of anger at Moitra. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday hit out at Banerjee for her alleged misbehaviour towards elected MLAs, MPs in public, and said it was one of the main factors behind his quitting the party a year ago. Adhikari told reporters here that she should not have insulted an elected representative this way.
"Mamata Banerjee is unmindful of the reaction of the families of the people's representatives and their sentiments if their near ones are publicly scorned in a live programme telecast in different channels," he said.
Adhikari, one-time Banerjee loyalist who handled several key responsibilities in her cabinet, said: "In fact this mindset of the chief minister to misbehave and treat members of her party and ministers in a disrespectful manner was one of the factors that made me decide to leave TMC. No leader with self respect can work under Mamata Banerjee".
Responding to Adhikari's charge, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh asked the BJP leader to "oil his own machine and not meddle with the affairs of Trinamool Congress where everyone considers Mamata Banerjee as his/her guardian."
Ghosh said Adhikari "is inventing" a new reason every other day to justify his decision to quit TMC. "But he never mentions the sole reason: that is to escape being hounded by CBI and the ED as he was a key accused in cases being probed by the central investigating agencies."
He said Adhikari had himself set new mark in misbehavior in the past in TMC's unit in Purba Medinipur district, from where he hails and has been elected, and claimed that now several members of BJP's state unit and the legislature party are upset with him for his brusque way of functioning.
