TMC hits back: No talk in party to make Abhishek future CM

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday lashed out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for claiming that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was committed to “bhatija kalyan [welfare of her nephew]. In a virtual address at the BJP’s rally in Howrah district earlier in the day, Shah also claimed that the TMC was working to make Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the MP from Diamond Harbour, the next chief minister.

Dismissing the claim, TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy said the party had made it clear time and again that it was contesting the upcoming elections with Mamata Banerjee as the chief ministerial face.

“Everyone knows that Mamata Banerjee will be our chief minister for the third time. How can Amit Shah make such a claim? There has been no talk in the party to appoint Abhishek as the future CM. Such claims are only aimed to create confusion,” he added.

Meanwhile, state minister and senior TMC leader Chandrima Bhattacharya claimed that the central government led by the BJP had become “extremely worried” on seeing the popularity of the Mamata Banerjee government’s “Swasthya Sathi” healthcare scheme.

She was responding to Amit Shah’s allegation that the state administration was not allowing the benefits of central schemes to reach the poor in Bengal.

At a news conference at Trinamool Bhavan here, Bhattacharya said, “Scheme was implemented in the state much before the Centre came up with Ayushman Bharat scheme.”