Adhikari hits back at Abhishek Banerjee over police warning, dares Mamata to fight him again

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday hit back at Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, a day after Banerjee warned police officers that they would face action once his party returned to power, and used a rally in South 24 Parganas to dare Banerjee and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee to fight him at the polls again.

The exchange is the sharpest so far between the new BJP government and the TMC, which lost the Assembly election in May and has since split, and it centres on the role of the state police in cases against opposition workers.

What the two sides said

On Thursday evening Abhishek Banerjee, the Diamond Harbour MP, alleged that police officers were framing TMC workers in false cases on the state government's orders, news agency IANS reported. "Our government will not spare even one of the police officers who framed our workers in false cases," he said, adding that he was warning every officer who thought they would act at Adhikari's behest.

Adhikari replied on Friday without naming him. Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, he mocked Banerjee's health, saying he had a problem with his "sodium-potassium level" and should go abroad for treatment, according to IANS and UNI. He also claimed that a former personal assistant of Banerjee, who IANS said was recently questioned by police, "seems to have disclosed everything". The Declaration could not independently confirm what the person told investigators, and the TMC has not commented on the claim.

The Baruipur rally

Later, at a public meeting in Baruipur, Adhikari challenged Abhishek Banerjee to contest the 2029 Lok Sabha election from Diamond Harbour and said he would ensure Banerjee lost, news agencies PTI and UNI reported. Turning to Mamata Banerjee, he said, "I have defeated you in Nandigram in 2021 and Bhabanipur in 2026," and told her there was "nothing left" for her in the state, advising her to take her politics to Delhi.

Adhikari, who said he holds the police portfolio, told the rally that it was his responsibility to put those accused of post-poll violence in jail, PTI reported. He also likened CPI(M) leaders to pests and claimed that the TMC was now seeking support from the Congress and the CPI(M) to survive. He referred to an INDIA bloc meeting planned in New Delhi on November 1.

At the same meeting, Adhikari said the Gangasagar Mela on Sagar Island, held every January, would be developed into an international event from 2027, UNI reported, repeating a promise from the BJP's election manifesto. At a review meeting in Kakdwip last week he had also promised that a bridge over the Muriganga river to Sagar Island would be finished by 2029, according to IANS.

Background

The BJP won the West Bengal Assembly election in May, ending 15 years of TMC rule, and Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee's former minister and long-time rival, became chief minister. According to PTI, the TMC has broken into three groups within 90 days of the defeat: Mamata Banerjee's party, a Democratic Trinamool Congress led by Ritabrata Banerjee, and a separate group of MPs.

The TMC says its workers are being targeted in false police cases since the change of government; the Chief Minister says those accused of post-poll violence will be prosecuted.

What happens next

No formal response from the TMC to Friday's remarks had been reported by the time of publication. The INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi is due on Sunday, November 1.