Controversy erupted in poll-bound West Bengal on March 27 after a purported audio clip of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking BJP district vice president Proloy Pal, an aide of Suvendu Adhikari, to return to the Trinamool Congress went viral.
Pal, who has pledged allegiance to the Adhikari family, also claimed that Banerjee had called him and sought his help. The tape surfaced on the day the state held the first of the eight rounds of voting.
The ruling Trinamool Congress questioned the authenticity of the tape but said there was nothing wrong if the CM was trying to get Pal back in the party.
In the audio clip tweeted by Bengal BJP as well as the party's IT cell chief Amit Malviya, Banerjee is purportedly heard asking Pal to rejoin her party and help her win the Nandigram constituency.
The Chief Minister who switched to Nandigram for this election is up against former confidant and now BJP candidate Adhikari who had played a vital role in Banerjee sweeping to power in 2011 by dislodging the Left Front after 34 years.
“You should help us win Nandigram. Look, I know you have some grievances but that is due mostly to the Adhikaris, who never allowed me to get into Nandigram or East Midnapore. I will take care of everything henceforth,” she reportedly told the BJP official.
After the audio clip surfaced, a BJP delegation, led by party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, met Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer and handed over the tape. They claimed that Banerjee was using her official position to influence the outcome of the West Bengal election.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “First of all, the clip is not verified. We don’t know whether it is true or false but we don’t see anything wrong in a politician calling her former leaders or aides. This is quite natural in politics.”
Massive! Mamata Banerjee calls Proloy Pal, BJP’s district Vice President in Nandigram and pleads for help!Proloy tells her that he was humiliated in TMC and he along with this family cannot betray the BJP.
Pishi is definitely losing Nandigram and TMC Bengal...#AmarVoteBJPKe pic.twitter.com/EqKEwvsy3Z
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 27, 2021
With PTI inputs
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