Suvendu accepts ‘TMC challenge’, threatens to move court against CM

Kolkata: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday dared Trinamool to go ahead with its legal move against him, but did not produce any prima facie evidence in support of the claim he made a few days ago about Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee calling up Union home minister Amit Shah after TMC lost national party status.“I accept your challenge,” Adhikari said after receiving a legal notice from Trinamool. “I will reply to this letter on Friday. Let them move court. I will fight it,” he added. The BJP leader also announced that he was going to move court against the CM.The Trinamool legal notice pertains to Adhikari’s remark on Tuesday, when he alleged that Banerjee had called Shah a goon. He also said he had “information” that the CM had called Shah four times after Trinamool lost its national party tag.Banerjee vehemently denied the charge on Wednesday and said she would resign as CM if she was found to have done it. She also asked the “person” who said all this to apologise for lying.“The CM enjoys high security. I am not going to place her call records from two landlines in public. I will make BSNL and Trai parties to the case when Trinamool moves court. I will seek the call records of the CM between March 4 and April 12 in court. I can’t divulge such information in public,” Adhikari said, citing restrictions under Section 8 of the Indian Telegraph Act.He also announced his counter-move against Banerjee: “I am going to file a case against the CM over what she said against Shah.” He claimed Banerjee had no “moral right” to say that the Union home minister had flouted the Constitution of India. “She said from a Digha rally on April 4 said that she had information that Shah had asked Bengal BJP leaders in a closed-door meeting to incite violence in Bengal,” Adhikari said.The BJP leader pointed out that three legal notices were pending against Banerjee in neighbouring Assam for her statements on CAA.