Kolkata, 30 October (H.S.): West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched a scathing but veiled political attack on Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee during the 'Janata Darbar' program held in Salt Lake on Friday. Taking a jibe at the TMC leader without explicitly naming him, the Chief Minister remarked that his sodium-potassium levels seemed to have fluctuated, adding that if he wished to travel to New York for medical treatment, the state government would immediately issue him a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

Hinting at cases of corruption and extortion, Adhikari claimed that an individual who allegedly collected illegal funds on behalf of the TMC leader has been taken into custody by the Diamond Harbour police.

According to the Chief Minister, this associate has confessed everything to the police, and the realization that these secrets have been exposed is the actual reason behind the leader's fluctuating sodium-potassium levels. Adhikari also alleged that since the previous government was in power for 15 years, some of their loyalists might still be entrenched within the system, providing them with inside information.

Significantly, the Chief Minister's sarcastic remarks came just a day after Abhishek Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the state government. Interacting with journalists on Thursday, Banerjee had severely criticized the state administration over the withdrawal of Birbhum MLA Kajal Sheikh's security cover and recent police raids on the premises of his close aides. He had alleged that leaders standing by Mamata Banerjee were being selectively targeted. Raising strong objections to the functioning of the state government and the Home Department, the TMC MP had questioned whether the administration was someone's ancestral property. Adhikari's comments on Friday are widely viewed as a direct counter-attack to Banerjee's sharp remarks.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh