Kolkata, Nov 9 (IANS) West Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition and veteran BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari, on Sunday, accused the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making “untrue” claims about the “Arjuna Award” received by internationally-acclaimed swimmer Bula Choudhury.

On Saturday, while addressing the felicitation event of the wicketkeeper-batsman of the Indian team winning the Women’s World Cup Richa Ghosh, Chief Minister Banerjee claimed that when she was the Union Minister of State for Sports, Choudhury requested her for the Arjuna Award.

Refuting this claim of the Chief Minister, LoP Adhikari issued a social media statement claiming that Choudhury received the Arjuna Award in 1990, when Mamata Banerjee was not even a member of the Parliament.

“Internationally renowned swimmer Bula Choudhury received the Arjuna Award in 1990 when Mamata Banerjee was not even a member of the Lok Sabha after being defeated in the 1989 Lok Sabha polls. Then how could Bula Choudhury request her for the Arjuna Award in 1991? There is a limit to lying…” the LoP said in his statement on X.

Parliamentary records corroborate LoP Adhikari’s statement.

Mamata Banerjee became the Lok Sabha member, then as a Congress candidate, for the first time in 1984 from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas district, defeating the then CPI-M candidate and former Lok Sabha speaker, late Somnath Chatterjee.

However, in the 1989 Lok Sabha polls, Mamata Banerjee was defeated from Jadavpur by CPI-M’s Malini Bhattacharya and remained out of the Lok Sabha till the 1991 Lok Sabha polls, when she again entered the Lok Sabha as a Congress candidate after getting elected from Kolkata (Dakshin) constituency.

After winning in the 1991 Lok Sabha polls, Mamata Banerjee became a Union minister of Human Resources Development, Sports, and Youth affairs in the Union Cabinet led by former Indian Prime Minister late P.V. Narsimha Rao.

According to the LoP Adhikari, the Chief Minister’s “untrue” claim that Choudhury requested her for the Arjuna Award is an insult to the latter’s capability as an internally acclaimed swimmer.

“The Chief Minister claimed that when Bula Choudhury requested her for the Arjuna Award, she told her to perform well in the Commonwealth Games, which Bula Chowdhury had kept.

“The reality is that Bula Choudhury never participated in the Commonwealth Games after the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in 1982. Choudhury received the Arjuna Award in 1990 after conquering the English Channel. She earned the Arjuna Award entirely on her own merits as an international swimmer and not at the mercy of anyone,” the LoP claimed.

He also demanded that Chief Minister Banerjee should now issue a statement apologising to Bula Choudhury for her “untrue” claims.

However, there was no reaction from Trinamool Congress on the matter.

–IANS

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