Ilambazar: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday shared dais with controversial Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mandal who had threatened to chop-off hands of Congress workers and asked partymen to attack houses of opposition party workers if TMC supporters were threatened.
The TMC Birbhum district president was sitting on the second row on the podium along with Banerjee and was also seen saying something to her.
"As in JungleMahal, people living in the seven blocks of Birbhum near the Jhakhand border will get rice at the rate of Rs 2 per kg from December 1," the Chief Minister said while announcing several new schemes.
Mandal, who courted controversy during the last Panchayat elections for his hate speech, had threatened to chop-off the hands of Congress workers if they tried to damage hoardings of Banerjee, while addressing a rally in the Katwa area of Burdwan district on November 6.
On November 9, while addressing another party rally in the same area, Mandal had asked Trinamool activists to attack houses of opposition party workers if TMC supporters were threatened.
Soon after Mandal`s remarks, opposition parties in West Bengal had lashed out against the Mamata Banerjee government with Congress MLA Rabindranath Chattopadhyay filing a complaint at the Katwa police station demanding immediate action against him for threatening Congress workers.
Though Mandal`s hate speech kicked off a political storm in the state, the TMC leadership had stood by him.
