Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took a jibe at the Adhikari family’s bastion in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district from her election rally in Haldia and said that in the future, she will give the responsibility of Midnapore to party’s General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The Chief Minister also called for the overthrow of the Adhikari family of BJP’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari.
“You (Suvendu Adhikari) have so much of arrogance. One brother is MLA, one is MP. Entire (Adhikari) family is contesting the elections. You abuse Abhishek Banerjee everyday, you can’t fight him and you want to fight me? Abhishek Banerjee will take care of Midnapore in the coming days,” Chief Minister Banerjee said.
The Adhikari family based in Kanthi of East Midnapore district has been with the party since the birth of Trinamool Congress in 1998.
Sisir Adhikari and his two sons, Suvendu and Dibyendu, have also fought for the party for a long time. They have become MPs and MLAs while Suvendu Adhikari was a Minister in Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet.
In 2020, Suvendu Adhikari left the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP. As a result, everyone in the Adhikari family joined the BJP. They have repeatedly attacked Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek and Trinamool Congress in public.
In 2021 Assembly polls, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee from the Nandigram Assembly constituency by a margin of 1,956 votes.
This time, Adhikari is contesting against the West Bengal Chief Minister from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata.
Targeting the Adhikari family, Mamata Banerjee said that she was defeated in the 2021 Assembly polls due to load shedding at the counting centre.
“You are filing a charge sheet against Trinamool Congress. I am filing a charge sheet against your BJP government. How much money has been looted in Haldia. Let there be an investigation into this. Will Trinamool people just be arrested? You looted votes in Nandigram last time, too. Even after our victory, you looted EVM machines by causing load shedding. You looted the counting process,” she added.
The Chief Minister also said, “I keep an eye on the entire state. Naturally, I also know what happens in the Haldia industrial area. A family (referring to the Adhikari family) takes money from a factory, takes money from every truck, why would they take it? Why should the poor people be oppressed? These will not be tolerated.”
Expressing the fear of load shedding this time too, Chief Minister Banerjee said, “This time too, they (BJP) will do load shedding, they will do random voting. The NIA has sent notices to 40 people in Nandigram itself. Why now? Have you been sleeping for last six years! Today you are saying that 1,000 Trinamool workers should be arrested. First arrest the BJP.”
(IANS)
