The statement of former chief minister and CPI(M) politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that he did not consider chief minister Mamata Banerjee a “symbol of honesty” has triggered a political storm with the ruling Trinamul Congress sending him a legal notice threatening to file a defamation suit.
In an interview to a Bengali television channel, Mr Bhattacharjee had on Tuesday questioned Ms Banerjee’s honesty and integrity. Taking strong exception to the “personal attack” against their party supremo, the legal cell of the Trinamul Congress sent a legal notice to Mr Bhattacharjee asking him to offer an apology within 48 hours or else the party would file a defamation suit against him.
Sources said, first the party leadership had only decided to field state urban development minister Firhad Hakim to condemn Mr Bhattacharjee’s statement and seek an apology. However, later it was decided to turn the heat on him by sending a legal notice.
Reacting sharply to his statement, Mr Hakim raised question about the mental health of Mr Bhattacharjee. “He has cast aspersion on the integrity of a person who enjoys an impeccable reputation of honesty not only in Bengal but all across the country. Her own party workers have full faith in her and so have the people of the state. I hope that better sense would prevail and Mr Bhattacharjee would admit his mistake and tender an apology to the chief minister,” he added.
Raising questions about Ms Banerjee’s honesty, Mr Bhattacharjee had asked the media to probe her family’s financial condition before and after she came to power. “She does not pass the yardstick of honesty. I can’t accept her as being honest. This is no secret. A lot of people close to her know this and they have started talking about it,” Mr Bhattacharjee had told the news channel.
Launching a counter-attack, Mr Hakim said that Mr Bhattacharjee had no moral right to question Ms Banerjee’s honesty because he had been rejected not only by the voters of his Jadavpur constituency but by the people of West Bengal. “What he has said is a sin. How can he say this about a woman who has made it a mission of her life to serve the people selflessly?” he asked.
In a bid to prove that Mr Bhattacharjee lacked consistency, Mr Hakim recalled that he had resigned from Jyoti Basu’s Cabinet in the 1993 and his daughter had said that he would not continue in a ministry of thieves. “But he went back to the Cabinet later lured by the privileges of the office,” he added.