Hours after the BJP alleged that two Trinamool Congress were involved in an ugly altercation at the Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the Election Commission of India, earlier this month, party MP Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday confirmed the developments and said he was ready to step down if asked by the party but refuses to tolerate the "insolent behavior" of the fellow woman parliamentarian.
BJP leader Amit Malviya shared screenshots and videos that showed a visibly irate Banerjee shouting at someone and referring to a fellow woman MP as "versatile international lady" in WhatsApp chats.
As the leaks triggered a row, Banerjee said he is ready to quit as an MP and public life if party supremo Mamata Banerjee asks him so. However, he said he will not tolerate the insolent behavior of a woman MP "just because she is a good looking woman and speaks fluent English".
"The day the party tells me I will step down. But I won’t tolerate such insolent behaviour of a woman parliamentarian. If Didi (Mamata Banerjee) says once I will resign. Just because she is a good looking woman and speaks fluent English doesn’t mean she can insult anyone,” Banerjee said.
"I will skip one session of the Lok Sabha and see the performance of the party (on the floor of the House). Shouting Murdabad is not enough," he added.
The public spat between the two MPs apparently took place on Friday, the same day the Supreme Court rejected the Bengal government’s appeal against the Calcutta High Court verdict in the teachers' recruitment scam.
The spat took place when a delegation of Trinamool Congress, which has been at the forefront of alleging duplicate voters' identity cards, was visiting the EC office to submit a memorandum.
According to Banerjee, the woman MP, whom he hasn't named yet, had neither signed the memorandum nor did she join the other parliamentarians, but came to the Nirvachan Sadan on her own.
Banerjee also alleged that the woman MP asked the central security forces to arrest Banerjee for alleged "abusive behavior" towards a woman.
"She had abused me and my daughter in Parliament. She is upset because I spoke on the Waqf bill. She wants to hog the limelight. I speak for the common people. She speaks for one industrialist against another industrialist. She attacks only Narendra Modi. Has she ever said a word against Amit Shah or any other BJP leader?" Banerjee asked.
"Say, you and I have had a fight for some reason…it can happen. But will I ask the CISF to arrest you? She was showing her power as an MP," Banerjee said, adding that unlike many others, he did not join the Trinamool since its glory days from 2011.
"I am not a quota leader. I am not from another party. I have fought against the CPM," he said.
Responding to the controversy, Trinamool MP Sougata Roy regretted the developments and said that it was a matter of shame and embarrassment for the party.
"The screenshots which have been published have put us to shame and embarrassment. This should not have happened...," Roy said.
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