West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday emphatically denied the claims by Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari that she called up Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him to do something on the Election Commission withdrawing her Trinamool Congress' national party status.
However, Banerjee did not name Adhikari even once. "I heard that on Tuesday one upstart individual claimed at a public meeting that I had called up their supreme leader Amit Shah four times after the EC withdrew Trinamool Congress's national party status.
If they can prove this I will resign as the Chief Minister. But if they cannot prove these allegations, will they rub their noses on the ground?" she said while interacting with media persons at the state Secretariat.
She raised a subtle question that whether this "wrong message" was a deliberate one because of her demand for Amit Shah's resignation as Home Minister for the latter's comments that if BJP bags 35 out of 42 seats from West Bengal in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, then the current state government will collapse even before 2025.
"It is true that I demanded his resignation because his behaviour was not appropriate with his post as the Union Home Minister. His comments were contrary to the federal democratic system of the country. Hence, I demanded his resignation. The BJP always sends wrong messages to people about Trinamool Congress," Banerjee said.
On Tuesday while addressing a rally at Singur in Hooghly district, Adhikari claimed that immediately after EC's announcement withdrawing national party status for Trinamool, Banerjee called up Amit Shah with the plea for retaining the national party status till the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Banerjee on Wednesday also asserted that the name of her party will continue to be All India Trinamool Congress. "BJP can influence the EC. But the name of our party will remain the same," she said.