BJP national secy Rahul Sinha calls Bengal Governor Tripathi 'soldier of Modi brigade', TMC says 'cat out of bag'

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha on Thursday termed West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi "a soldier of Modi brigade", a remark the ruling Trinamool Congress was prompt to latch on to saying "the cat is out of the bag".

Referring to the spat between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tripathi, Sinha said, "The Trinamool Congress is under the illusion that it can silence K N Tripathi by making hollow remarks and attacking the office of the governor." "But they have forgotten one thing - K N Tripathi is a soldier of the Modi brigade. He cannot be stopped from performing his duty," he told reporters here. Sinha said the governor's recent statement has proved that he is "not afraid" of the TMC.

Tripathi had yesterday said it was wrong to say the Raj Bhavan has become the office of BJP or RSS. "The Raj Bhavan is not a department of the state government and is open to every citizen for redressal of his or her grievances," he had said. TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, "We have been saying this for a long time that the Governor is working on behalf of BJP and RSS and now Sinha's comment has proved that we are right."

"Now the cat is out of the bag," he said. The BJP thinks it would advance to capture power in the state by turning the Raj Bhavan into its party office, he added.