Buddha gets 48 hrs to apologise

Trinamool Congress has sent a legal notice to former chief minister and CPM politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for his remark questioning the honesty of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The party has threatened to file a criminal defamation suit against the CPM leader unless he tendered an "unconditional apology within 48 hours of receiving the notice".

Bhattacharjee had told a private news channel on Tuesday that he did not view Mamata as an honest person. Bhattacharjee had said: "What was her (Mamata's) family condition earlier, and what is it now, a probe can unravel this. If someone calls her a honest person, I will differ."

Speaking to The Indian Express, lawyer Rajdeep Majumder, who represents the TMC, said: "Mamata Banerjee is our supreme leader and we believe in her ideology. By calling her dishonest Buddhadeb babu has not only defamed her but the party also. He will have to file an unconditional apology or we will file both a criminal and civil suit against him."

Earlier in the day, Trinamool leader and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim termed the CPM leader's remark "unfair" and ridiculed him by casting "doubt" on his "mental stability". "We demand that he (Buddhadeb) expresses regret and apologises for the statement which involves a person (Mamata Banerjee) who has made selfless sacrifice for the service of the people throughout her life," said Hakim.

"Her (Mamata) honesty is beyond question all over India and people of West Bengal largely rely on her honesty," he said, rejecting the demand of a probe into Mamata's wealth raised by the CPM leader.

Hakim said Bhattacharjee has no right to criticise a "mass leader like Mamata" and listed the "shameful incidents like rape and murder of Tapasi Malik, Dhantala rape, killing of farmers in Nandigram and Singur" that happened when Bhattacharjee was at the helm of the affairs in the state.

"This bhadralok (gentleman) had earlier called his own government headed by Jyoti Basu as a government of thieves. Later, he joined the same government. He speaks wrong but later backtracks from his statement. He is carrying the legacy of Communist leaders who had attacked leaders like Bidhan Chandra Roy and Prafulla Sen with filthy words," Hakim said.

Referring to Bhattacharjee rating the TMC government's performance as zero, Hakim said, "One who himself is zero, how can he give zero to others?" He said Bhattacharjee's regime was marked by non-development and 55,000 industries had to close down.

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