KOLKATA: The political environment in West Bengal heated up Friday after BJP new boy Mukul Roy kicked back at the party he quit this week, accusing the Trinamool Congress of being a ‘private company’ owned and run by Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee.
Speaking at his first public rally after joining the BJP, Mukul Roy alleged that Biswa Bangla, which organised the Under-17 World Cup Football, was owned by her nephew.
“Biswa Bangla is a private company owned by Abhishek Banerjee. Even the TMC mouthpiece Jago Bangla is owned by Mamata’s nephew. Mamata is no longer the same person whom I knew while fighting the Left Front,” he said.
Roy also mocked Mamata Banerjee’s trip to London beginning Saturday. “She could not bring Indian industrial investments to Bengal and now is she trying to get British investments?” he asked.
He urged BJP workers to ‘ignite the fire inside them’ to secure victories for the party first in the panchayat election in mid-2018, then the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and finally the 2021 Assembly elections. “We need paribartan (change) of people who have brought paribartan (change) in the state. I want to see a BJP chief minister in Bengal in 2021,” he added.
Mamata Banerjee’s administration issued a statement in retort to Mukul Roy, saying Biswa Bangla is a West Bengal government initiative designed by Mamata Banerjee and that legal action would be taken against a private company for misusing the ‘Biswa Bangla’ brand.
Education minister Partha Chatterjee dared Roy to prove his allegations. “I would resign from my post if he proves his allegations. Mukul Roy has forgotten our past. If TMC is a private enterprise, Mukul Roy was its managing director. What happened that he had to quit?” he asked.
Responding to Mukul Roy’s call for ‘BJP CM in Bengal by 2021’, Chatterjee said that the saffron party has to first increase its tally from three at present to at least 36 in the 294-seat Assembly.