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‘Did call BJP leader’: Mamata seeks action against audio leak
A controversy erupted on Saturday amid the first phase polling for 30 assembly seats in West Bengal with BJP releasing an audio clip in which Banerjee was heard cajoling the BJP leader from Nandigram to rejoin TMC and help her win the seat.
Two days after a controversy erupted over a purported audio clip in which chief minister Mamata Banerjee was heard seeking help from a BJP leader to win the Nandigram seat, the TMC supremo has admitted that she called Pralay Pal after getting feedback that he wanted to talk to her.
Speaking at an election meeting in Nandigram, Banerjee said, as a candidate, she has every right to call up a voter. “Yes I had called up this BJP leader in Nandigram. I had got the feedback that someone wants to talk to me. So I talked to him after getting his number. I told him to keep well, to take care of his health. So what is my crime?” the TMC supremo said.
“But if someone makes the conversation viral that is a criminal offence. Action should be taken against the person who made my conversation viral, not me,” Banerjee said adding she will continue to call up people in the same manner in future.
She recounted that in the past she reached out to people cutting across party lines and even opposition MLAs who sought her help.
A controversy erupted on Saturday amid the first phase polling for 30 assembly seats in West Bengal with BJP releasing an audio clip in which Banerjee was heard cajoling the BJP leader from Nandigram to rejoin TMC and help her win the seat.
A BJP delegation led by the party general secretary and its Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargia met the state’s chief electoral officer and handed over the audio tape. They said Banerjee was using her official position to influence the outcome of polls.
