BJP calling up TMC leaders, trying to coerce them to join saffron camp: Mamata

Coochbehar (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to coerce Trinamool Congress leaders to join the saffron party. Addressing a rally here, Banerjee termed detractors in her party as "opportunists" and blamed the BJP for trying to break the TMC by using "moneybags".

"Imagine the audacity of the BJP leaders, they are calling up my state president Subrata Bakshi and asking him to join the party. The BJP doesn't have any political courtesy or ideology. And, there are one or two opportunists who only work for their benefit.

"The old-timers of the party are our real assets. The BJP is trying to coerce TMC leaders to join. It is using moneybags to break opposition parties... But, we will fight and defeat them in the assembly polls," she asserted.

Her comments come in the backdrop of growing resentment in the TMC with several senior leaders, ministers and MLAs openly speaking up against the party leadership and the state government.