West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she will resign if it is proven that she had called up Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the Trinamool Congress lost its 'national party' status.
Her reaction came after leader of opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari claimed on Tuesday that Banerjee had dialed Shah to request him to repeal the Election Commission's decision.
"I will resign if it is proven that I called up Amit Shah over TMC's national party status," she said.
Banerjee said her party will continue to go by the name 'All India Trinamool Congress'. “If the BJP has any problem, they can approach the Election Commission and we will approach the common people,” she said.
On Tuesday, Adhikari's comments had drawn a sharp retort from the state's ruling party, which dubbed him as a "habitual liar".
“Suvendu Adhikari is a habitual liar. We have seen how he has earlier brazenly lied about several political developments. His remarks are baseless and don't have an iota of truth. Having a national party status or not is notional. It is not going to impact the growth of the TMC," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
The Election Commission last week withdrew the 'national party' status of the Trinamool Congress, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and the Communist Party of India.
The poll panel also recognised the Aam Aadmi Party as a national party based on its electoral performance in four states—Delhi, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat.
