BJP's Babul Supriyo closeness with Mamata Banerjee irks Roopa Ganguly

Kolkata: The apparent closeness between the BJP's central leadership and Mamata Banerjee has irked West Bengal BJP leader Roopa Ganguly, who on Saturday wondered whether singer-turned-union minister Babul Supriyo has asked the chief minister why his party workers are facing repeated attacks.

"Minister Babul Supriyo is a close friend. But it is not that I agree with him on everything.

"I know if you are a minister, you have to talk sweetly and work well. But I would like to remind Babul Supriyo once again at the way BJP workers are being beaten up in our state," said the actor-turned-politician.

"Minister Babul Supriyo, you are sitting in Delhi. You should know, take our calls. We are leading a very unhappy life in our chief minister's rule. We are living amid lot of insults," said Ganguly, who gained cult status by playing Draupadi in the popular serial Mahabharat (1988-1990). She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January.

"Babul Supriyo should ask the chief minister why the BJP workers are facing repeated attacks in the state," she said.

Union Minister of State for Urban Development Supriyo recently travelled with the chief minister in her car during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to the city. He also shared jhalmuri (spicy puffed rice salad) with Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo.

Later, Supriyo lavished praise on Banerjee, while she called him a "son of the soil".

Of late, sections in the media as also the state's opposition parties have been raising a hue and cry over perceived closeness between Banerjee and the top BJP leadership.

Modi, who toured the state last week, held two meetings with Banerjee.

The opposition parties have alleged while Modi needs the votes of Trinamool MPs to carry through reform proposals and key bills in the Rajya Sabha, Banerjee is eyeing an increased central grant and a moratorium on repayment of central loans, besides a halt in the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the Saradha chit fund scam, where a number of Trinamool leaders have been either arrested or questioned.