Kolkata, Oct. 22 -- MAITC MLA Kunal Ghosh claimed that his party would secure at least 200 votes if a floor test were conducted through a secret ballot in the West Bengal Assembly, challenging Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to prove the BJP government's majority.
Responding sharply to Adhikari's recent remarks on a possible confidence vote, Ghosh claimed that the five-month-old BJP government would face a humiliating defeat if MLAs were allowed to vote confidentially in the Assembly.
Adhikari has reportedly claimed that the BJP has the support of 209 MLAs and could secure an additional 60-65 votes, while opposition legislators were also willing to support the government.
Ghosh said the statement had indirectly vindicated MAITC's demand for a floor test. He also accused the rival Trinamool faction, comprising leaders who switched sides, of functioning as the BJP's "B-team".
Targeting the defectors, the Beleghata MLA alleged that seven to eight leaders had joined the rival camp to conceal their alleged wrongdoing and escape punishment. He claimed that these leaders were being humiliated despite having won their Assembly seats on the Trinamool symbol, and questioned their self-respect.
He challenged Adhikari to hold a secret-ballot floor test in the Assembly, asserting that it would reveal whether the ruling party could retain the support it claimed. Ghosh maintained that the BJP government would be defeated in such a test.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.