KOLKATA: A war of words erupted between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP on Sunday amid campaigning for the Bhowanipore by-election. TMC minister Firhad Hakim, who is campaigning door-to-door for his party leader Mamata Banerjee, rubbished the BJP’ claim that it will give a tough fight to the TMC.
Attacking BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, Hakim asked, “Who is she? How useful is the BJP’s candidate? What is her contribution to our society?”
Responding to Hakim’s attack, Tibrewal said, “I defeated the state government in the high court. He (Hakim) should have congratulated me first. The verdict of Bhowanipore’s voters on September 30 will help him to identify who I am.”
Tibrewal is one of the BJP leaders who petitioned the Calcutta HC over the post-election violence in the state, which led the HC to order a CBI probe into allegations of crimes against women and children. Referring to Priyanka’s defeat in the recent Assembly elections, Hakim called her a bacha meye (young girl). “She is a young girl. She had been defeated earlier in the Assembly elections. As no senior BJP leader was ready to contest against Mamata Banerjee, they have pushed the young girl into the battleground,” he said.
Priyanka said her fight is to save democracy, “My rival Mamata Banerjee is much senior and older than me. But I am here to fight the battle to save democracy and people of Bengal from TMC’s terror.’’