NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday upped the ante against
MP Abhishek Banerjee and dared him to contest from the Diamond Harbour constituency in the next Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking in the West Bengal assembly, Adhikari launched a veiled attack, referring to the TMC leader's remarks at the Martyrs' Day rally held a day earlier, and claimed the
would decide "where he will be" by then.
"Yesterday, there was a lot of loud talk. Someone asked his party workers to note it down, and that accounts would be settled in 2031. We will see where he is in 2031. If he has the courage, let him contest from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat," Adhikari said.
"Talking big with a gathering of 2,500 people serves no purpose. I draw four times that crowd even at a meeting in a single gram panchayat," he added, without naming Abhishek.
This comes a day after Abhishek accused the BJP of trying to weaken the party through "betrayal" and vowed that the saffron camp would be politically defeated in the state.
"What will the BJP do? Put us in jail? Frame us in false cases? Let them. We will never bow our heads because our backbone is not for sale," Abhishek had said.
"This new Trinamool will continue fighting in Bengal politics for the next 40 years, and in 2031 it will settle every account," he added.
Diamond Harbour, represented by Abhishek Banerjee in the Lok Sabha since 2014, has long been regarded as his political stronghold.