Mamata offers to resign if proven that she called up Amit Shah

Adhikari had claimed that she called up Shah to request him to do something on the Election Commission withdrawing her Trinamool Congress' national party status, while addressing a rally at Hooghly district's Singur.

Kolkata: A day after Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called up Union Home Minister Amit Shah four times after Trinamool Congress was stripped off its national status by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Trinamool Congress supremo vowed to resign if Adhikari could prove his allegation.

Accusing BJP of peddling lies and slander and describing the accusations as "ugly," "bad," and "destructive", the chief minister said, "I have asked for his (Suvendu Adhikari) resignation for claiming to topple the (TMC) government by force. His words are unbecoming of a home minister. He says I have called Shah four times; he should prove it. If you do prove it, I will resign as Chief Minister. If not, will you resign?" the West Bengal chief minister said. "Some are lying and slandering...BJP is systematically giving the wrong message to people about Trinamool," she added.

This was in response to Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's comment, wherein he had claimed that Mamata Banerjee called up Amit Shah after Trinamool Congress was excluded from the list of national parties by the ECI. “Soon after the Commission announced its decision to withdraw the national status of Trinamool Congress, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called up the Home Minister. During the telephonic conversation, she had appealed to Amit Shah to retain Trinamool’s national party status till the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In reply, the Home Minister clearly told her that the commission's decision cannot be reversed by him since the Election Commission of India is an autonomous body,” Adhikari had said addressing a rally at Hooghly district's Singur.

Mamata Banerjee's statements come in the wake of the ECI's decision to strip Trinamool Congress of its national party status has further escalated tensions between the two parties. Trinamool Congress had been accorded national party status in 2016 after winning more than 6% of the votes in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in four or more states. However, in the recent assembly elections, Trinamool Congress failed to win the required number of seats in other states, leading to its exclusion from the list of national parties.