Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asserted that the Left Front would once again come to power after the next Assembly elections. “I am (in power) and I will remain so,” he added. Mr Bhattacharjee was reacting to a statement made by Trinamul Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay during a Trinamul Congress rally in the city on Wednesday.
Mr Bandopadhyay had said that when a Trinamul Congress delegation had met Union home minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi, Mr Chidambaram told them that Mr Bhattacharjee had informed him that his government would not remain in office for long because a wind of change was sweeping the state.
Reacting sharply to Mr Bandopadhyay’s statement, Mr Bhattacharjee said: “I am amused by the reports where a Trinamul Congress MP narrated a discussion which took place between the Union home minister and me in New Delhi. Next time, when I go to New Delhi, I will have to ask the Union home minister what did he exactly tell them.”
Reacting to the chief minister’s comment, Mr Bandopadhyay said, “Buddhababu is scared. When will he go to New Delhi and get an appointment with Mr Chidambaram? Instead, why does he not lodge a complaint with him over phone? I have no intention of telling lies.”
Chief minister Bhattacharjee, however, reiterated that the party to which Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay belonged was famous for spreading falsehood.