LEFT FRONT Chairman Biman Bose on Tuesday took a jibe at Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, who had filed a defamation case against him, saying he should have sued him for Rs 100 crore and not for only Rs 10 crore. On September 22, Abhishek — Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and the Diamond Harbour MP — had filed a defamation suit against Bose in the Calcutta High Court, demanding a compensation of Rs 10 crore. Abhishek had claimed that Bose, during a news conference, had made a defamatory allegation against him with regard to primary Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) examination that was postponed over an alleged leak of question papers. [related-post] Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Bose said: “I don’t want to react on Abhishek’s actions or comments. He is a young fellow. Those who advised him, were wrong. He should have sued me for Rs 100 crore and not for a mere Rs 10 crore.” “We are already participating in a ‘Lalbazar Chalo’ movement on October 1 against police atrocities unleashed under the instructions of the ruling Trinamool Congress. They might arrest me and throw me behind bars. What more can they do? I am not afraid of being imprisoned and am ready for anything,” he added. Claiming he was skeptical whether the upcoming civic polls and panchayat bypolls would be free and fair, Bose said: “I don’t know how the elections will take place. Looking at recent incidents, we can see that violence is on the rise in the state. Armed anti-social elements are using ambulances for transportation. Trinamool workers are killing each other. How will peace be restored?” He added that looking at the current circumstances, the Left Front, at a meeting on Tuesday has decided to step up its campaign for the upcoming polls. “We will have to urge the people to cast their own votes to ensure that democracy is restored. and request the police and administration to ensure that people are allowed to exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner,” said Bose. He added: “So far, there has been at least 21 cases where Left Front candidates have been prevented from filing nominations or been forced to withdraw the same. The Trinamool-led government does not believe in a democratic set up and thus, the election commissioner and administration will have to ensure that there is peace. If there was an attempt to loot votes, we will sit in front of polling stations and retaliate, if need be. The movement of anti-social elements is aimed at creating an atmosphere of intimidation.” Meanwhile, ridiculing the state’s decision to declassify documents on Netaji related to 401 cabinet meetings held between 1938 and 1947, Bose said the government was doing this “because it had no other work”. “The Trinamool government has no work. it is releasing these files now because they have done nothing in the last four years and think it should be doing something,” Bose said.
