Sonali Guha in the eye of storm over alleged Salkia manhandling

MUMBAI: Deputy speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly (WBLA) and Trinamool Congress MLA Sonali Guha has dragged herself in a controversy as she along with her party workers had reportedly manhandled and threatened residents of an apartment in Howrah on Wednesday night.

Accompanied by Trinamool activists and policemen, Guha was seen in the footage, aired by news channels, threatening the residents of an apartment in Salkia. “I am the chief minister; I am the government. Don't mess with me. Do as I say,“ she was seen telling the president of the building's residents' association Nagendra Rai, threatening to evict him from his flat and lock it up over a non-functional elevator in the building.

It is learnt that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken a strong exception to Guha's act. Senior Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee has commented on the party's official website: “Incident of Sonali Guha has come to our notice. Mukul Roy, Subrata Bakshi, Subrata Mukherjee and myself will decide course of action.“

Opposition parties slammed the deputy speaker, saying that beating up police, gov ernment officials and even toll plaza work ers have become a common practice among key Trinamool Congress leaders. But Gu ha has denied that she did not call herself the chief minister but a representative of the chief minister.

“The president of the flat owners associ ation, Rai has been threatening other resi dents and intentionally locked up the ele vator. I just told him that it was illegal to do so and said I am the chief minister's man and will not tolerate such things,“ Guha said. “Why should I say I am the chief minister? I said I was a man of the chief minister and a government official,“ Guha explained. But Rai, who has already filed a police complaint over the incident, claimed the Trinamool activists had roughed him up. BJP and Congress have come down heavily on Guha for her action.

“When the chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) herself publicly issues threats and uses unparliamentary language, what else can be expected from her party's leaders,“ state BJP president Rahul Sinha said.

Echoing a similar view, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury expressed concern over leaders from the ruling party taking the law into their hands. “Guha has tarnished the image of the state Assembly and failed to do justice to her chair (post of the deputy speaker) by intimidating the flat owners president,“ Chowdhury said.