'Just because she speaks fluent English ...': Kalyan Banerjee blames 'woman MP' for public spat

NEW DELHI: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday pinned blame on fellow women MP for the alleged public spat at the Election Commission headquarters.

Admitting that an altercation did take place, Kalyan, without naming the Woman MP, said that she was "showing her power" by asking the BSF personnel to arrest him.

"She was showing her power as a Member of Parliament. I will not tolerate disrespect from MPs. I have been in politics for the last 40 years. This woman MP was asking the security personnel outside the EC office to arrest me. Who are they to send me to jail? She hurled abuses towards me. It is I who fights in Parliament; I am not someone who is only obsessed with a specific industrial house,” Kalyan said.

"Just because the woman MP speaks fluent English doesn't mean she can insult anybody,” he added.

In his first reaction after the alleged spat, accused his party MP Kirti Azad of divulging the party's internal conversations.

The controversy erupted after BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya shared a video on social media, claiming it showed a public altercation between two TMC MPs at the EC office on April 4. Malviya also released screenshots of a heated exchange between the MPs in the party’s official WhatsApp group.

"It all started after one MP, who was carrying the memorandum, went to the EC office directly ignoring the party's instruction to first meet other members of the delegation at party's Parliament office to get the document signed by all of them. This angered the other MP, who confronted him when they came face to face at the commission office," Amit Malviya wrote in his post on X.

"Later the fight continued in the ‘AITC MP 2024’ WhatsApp group with MPs trading barbs at each other," he added.

In the video, the TMC MP goes on to say that he will not tolerate such things as he has not come through quota or from any other party.

Then the fight spilled onto the WhatsApp group of the Trinamool MPs where Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad - who joined Mamata's party in 2021, engaged in an ugly spat.

Following the altercation, the woman MP exited the WhatsApp group and sent letters to both Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, news agency PTI reported quoting sources

A senior TMC leader, who requested anonymity, told PTI that the argument occurred last week when a party delegation had gone to the EC to submit a memorandum.

Meanwhile, TMC turned against Kalyan after the reported confrontation and accused him of misbehaving with a women MP.

"We are saddened, this should not have happened. I do not know whether this clash truly occurred or not. But if it did, it’s unfortunate,” senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and MP Saugata Roy said.

“Many of our party members wanted to complain to Mamata Banerjee, but whether they did or not, I don't know. Kalyan Banerjee misbehaved with a lady MP, she protested and revolted and then all the MPs went against Kalyan Banerjee,” he added.