West Bengal Assembly polls | Mamata’s purported audio clip seeking help from former partyman stirs row
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According to BJP, the Chief Minister received in contact with Pralay Pal, who has sworn allegiance to Adhikaris, to help her win Nandigram.
An enormous controversy erupted on Sunday amid the polling for 30 Assembly seats in West Bengal, with the BJP releasing an audio clip the place Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is purportedly heard cajoling a BJP chief from Nandigram to rejoin the Trinamool Congress and help her win the seat.
Ms. Banerjee is pitted in opposition to her former protege and now the BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, the spring board that propelled her to energy in 2011, dislodging the Left Front from energy after a 34-year unbroken rule.
A BJP delegation, led by celebration common secretary and Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, met the State’s Chief Electoral Officer and handed over the tape, claiming Ms. Banerjee was utilizing her official place to affect the end result of the bitterly contested Assembly ballot.
The ruling Trinamool Congress questioned the genuineness of the audio tape, however asserted that since Pralay Pal was a former Trinamool chief who converted to the BJP, there was nothing flawed with Banerjee attempting to woo him again.
Mr. Pal, who pledged his allegiance to the Adhikari household, whose two members are nonetheless Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha members, claimed Ms. Banerjee personally known as him up and requested him to help her win the Nandigram seat.
“You should help us win Nandigram. Look, I know you have some grievances, but that’s due mostly to the Adhikaris who never allowed me to get into Nandigram or East Midnapore. I will take care of everything henceforth,” Ms. Banerjee purportedly informed Mr. Pal, a BJP official in East Midnapore, the district the place the Adhikari household holds sway.
Mr. Pal, nonetheless, was not recreation.
“Didi, you called me and I am honoured. But I can’t betray the Adhikaris as they have stood by me through thick and thin,” he was heard saying within the audio clip.
He later informed TV information channels that Ms. Banerjee known as him up and requested him to return to the Trinamool Congress, a proposal he declined. “I am now working for the BJP and can’t betray them,” Mr. Pal mentioned.
PTI couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the audio tape.
Sharing the clip of the purported dialog, BJP’s social media head Amit Malviya tweeted, “Massive! Mamata Banerjee calls Proloy Pal, BJP’s district Vice President in Nandigram and pleads for help! Proloy tells her that he was humiliated in TMC, and he, along with this family, cannot betray the BJP. Pishi is definitely losing Nandigram and TMC Bengal.”
“Only a candidate who has accepted defeat can speak the way Mamata Banerjee has spoken,” Mr. Vijayvargiya informed journalists.
When requested about whether or not the tape was genuine, the BJP chief retorted: “I am saying what I am saying with full responsibility (jawabdari).” “She’s imploring (yachna) for help. It shows she has accepted defeat,” he mentioned.
The Trinamool Congress mentioned the tape was not verified however discovered nothing flawed in Ms. Banerjee approaching a former partyman.
“First of all, the clip is not verified. We don’t know whether it is true or false. But we don’t see anything wrong in a politician calling her former leaders or aides. This is quite natural in politics,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh mentioned.
The high-profile Nandigram seat will go to ballot on April 1 within the second section.
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