Assam CM's 'deflated football' swipe at Mamata after her faction gets new poll symbol

Kolkata: "The football will get deflated," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday, in a swipe at Mamata Banerjee after the EC froze the TMC name and symbol following a factional feud and allotted her group the 'Football Player' symbol.

The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of Trinamool Congress on Friday got the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress', while its rival group led by Arup Roy got the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' ahead of the October 6 bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal.

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Sarma, who visited Madhupur in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, said Banerjee will never be able to return to power in the state and she will have to sit on the sidelines, watching how development works are carried out under the stewardship of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

"The football will get deflated. Wait for two days; Mamata didi will be nowhere. Now, CM Adhikari will carry out development works, and Mamata will sit and watch how development is done," he told reporters here.

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The bypoll in Nandigram saw Congress nominee Milan Pradhan arrested based on four 19-year-old pending arrest warrants connecting him to serious offences allegedly committed during the 2007 agitation against land acquisition in the region. Banerjee had extended her faction's support to the Congress in Nandigram, which was prompted by her own nominee, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrawing from the race.

Sarma defended the arrest, saying it was the "police's duty".

Speaking to reporters, he claimed that Rahul Gandhi allowed a murder accused to take part in an electoral process.

"What kind of a candidate will you call him? I have read in the newspapers that two or three murder cases were registered against him in 2007. When such matters come to light, the police will definitely have to arrest him as it is their duty," he said in response to Gandhi terming the arrest as "targeting the opposition" and "murder of democracy".

In the Rejinagar seat, Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, the candidate for the Banerjee-led TMC faction, announced his withdrawal from the polls, citing pressure on party workers and difficulties associated with contesting under the faction's new electoral symbol. He, however, reversed the decision within hours after speaking to the TMC supremo.