Angry with his comments about the Mamata Banerjee accident row, the Congress party Thursday removed Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as the Leader of the party in Lok Sabha.
Chowdhury has termed the accident of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a “siyasi pakhand (political drama)”.
The Congress party distanced itself from his comments and termed the accident an attack by political opponents.
Banerjee had got injured Wednesday while campaigning in Nandigram. She said she was attacked by five people on the road.
Within minutes, her lies were busted as many eyewitnesses contradicted her version. The preliminary investigation of the police also ruled out any attack.
In a dramatic u-turn, Ms. Banerjee later released a video message from the hospital bed in which she said the injury was the result of an accident and asked her party people to maintain calm.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, a Congress Lok Sabha Member from Punjab, has replaced Chowdhry.
With election campaigning in West Bengal in full swing, the Congress party said it was difficult for Chowdhury to discharge his duties as the leader of the party in Lok Sabha.
Chowdhury is also the president of the West Bengal Congress. Some senior leaders of the party are demanding his removal from this post too.
The Congress has aligned with the Left and Islamist party (Indian Secular Front) in Bengal to fight the Trinamool Congress.
