Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday ridiculed the Trinamool Congress leadership and West Bengal Chief Minister for nominating the name of party general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee as the party’s representative in the multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor after withdrawing the name the cricketer-turned politician and the party’s Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency in Murshidabad district Yusuf Pathan.

Both the Chief Minister and Abhishek Banerjee expressed disappointment over the manner of selection of Pathan for the multi-party delegation, and both alleged that the Union government nominated the name of the former India Team India international without giving prior information to the Trinamool Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister.

Thereafter, Pathan’s name was withdrawn from the delegation, and on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress announced that the Chief Minister had nominated Abhishek Banerjee, who also happens to be her nephew, as the party’s representative in the delegation.

On Wednesday, the leader of the opposition had issued a statement claiming that it was abominable that Mamata Banerjee chose an occasion as significant as an all-party delegation representing India on the global stage to indulge in petty politicking.

“It is now clear that her objection to Yusuf Pathan’s inclusion wasn’t about asserting the TMC’s right to nominate a representative, it was about ensuring a seat for her nephew,” the statement issued by Adhikari read.

Adhikari had claimed that the Chief Minister could have benefited from the benefit of doubt had she nominated someone more seasoned and reasonable to represent the party in the all-party delegation.

“But alas, West Bengal is once again made to suffer under the weight of dynastic entitlement. Bengal didn’t vote for a one-plus-one arrangement, and it certainly didn’t vote for nepotism over merit,” Adhikari’s statement read.

Earlier on Tuesday, BJP’s Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, said that Mamata Banerjee’s decision to force Pathan to withdraw from the multi-party delegation sent a subliminal message that she and her party were unwilling to speak out against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

“Mamata Banerjee represents the worst kind of politics, and unfortunately, West Bengal is bearing the brunt of it. Let us not forget that a hostile demographic shift is staring the state in the face,” Malviya said.

–IANS

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