The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, Shubhendu Adhikari was seen at the Kali temple with two TMC councilors from the Suri municipality, fueling speculations. The meeting took place on Saturday at the Bamni Kali temple in Suri in Birbhum district, where the official visited ahead of the Kali Puja ceremony.
Two councilors – Ujjwal Chatterjee, who was the former president of Suri Municipality, and Kundan Dey were present at the temple when senior BJP leaders went to the temple and spoke to them. Later, the officer posted a picture of the meeting on social media in which Chatterjee is seen talking to him.
Birbhum district TMC president Anubrata Mandal is in CBI custody in animal smuggling case. The officer has repeatedly criticized Mandal. Nandigram’s MLA Adhikari is a former TMC leader. He had entered the BJP in 2020 before the state elections and is a fierce critic of the TMC government and its supremo Mamata Banerjee.
TMC councilors described the meeting as “coincidence” and “without any political significance”. When asked, Chatterjee said, “I visit Bamni Kali temple every year before Kali Puja. On Saturday, I suddenly met Shubhendu Adhikari at the temple and spoke to him as a courtesy. Since he was earlier in our party (TMC) We know each other.”
“We don’t take politics to the temple. TMC has always been polite towards opposition leaders,” Dey said. There was no comment from the district TMC leadership regarding the meeting. Apart from visiting the Bamni temple, the officer had inaugurated two Kali pujas here. Kali Puja is being celebrated across the state on Monday.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, BJP district president Dhruba Saha on Sunday said, “Many TMC leaders are trying to join the BJP, but we are in no hurry. We have not forgotten that the results of the state assembly elections were out last year. After what they did to our workers.” The BJP has claimed that many of its workers were killed by the TMC in the post-poll violence in 2021. TMC has termed the allegation as baseless.
Read also | Cattle smuggling case: CBI raids arrested Mandal’s house in Birbhum, daughter interrogated
Read also | West Bengal: CBI files 2 chargesheets in Birbhum violence on March 21