“Death knell of Mamata Banerjee”: BJP nominee Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s remark sparks row

Kolkata: Former justice-turned-BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay courted controversy after he was heard saying in a purported video clip that the “death knell of Mamata Banerjee” has started ringing.

The Trinamool Congress claimed that the BJP’s Tamluk candidate wished the death of the TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister, while the saffron party said what Gangopadhyay meant was the “political death of the TMC”.

The video which surfaced on Thursday purportedly showed Gangopadhyay telling a reporter: "It seems the death knell of Mamata Banerjee has already started ringing." PTI did not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Senior TMC leader and minister Sashi Panja said it appears a competition is going on among BJP candidates to show "how bad their utterances can get." "Abhijit Gangopadhyay now wishes the death of Mamata Banerjee. Do we ever wish death even for our foes? The fear of losing has crept into the BJP....You should be apologetic about such distasteful remarks. And this person was a high court judge till the other day," Panja said.

Gangopadhyay resigned as a judge of Calcutta High Court on March 5 and joined the BJP two days later. The saffron party nominated him to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Tamluk seat.

Panja said Mamata Banerjee is blessed by the people of Bengal.

While Ganguly could not be contacted for his comments, BJP state spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya told PTI: "I was not present when and where Ganguly said this, but I think it was an ornamental statement hinting at the political death of TMC party, of which Mamata Banerjee is the supremo.” The TMC wants to create an unnecessary controversy, he said.

Bhattacharya said that Banerjee herself, as an opposition leader, had rung the “death knell” of the then CPI(M)-led Left Front government at a rally in Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata in 1992.

"Did she then call for the death of any leading CPI(M) leader like Jyoti Basu? The TMC only wants to rake up controversy," he added.