Mamata threatens to slap suit against Surjeet

Marxist supremo at receiving end for accusing Didi of stoking Sikh riots

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has threatened to file a defamation suit against Harkishan Singh Surjeet, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI M), for suggesting she was among those trying to organise mayhem in West Bengal during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

"Some political bigwigs, including the so-called firebrand lady of Bengal, were trying to organise mayhem in the state,' Surjeet says in the editorial of the forthcoming issue of the CPI M mouthpiece People's Democracy. In a piece titled, ' I Vividly Remember the Day" , Surjeet reminisces about his personal experiences in Delhi in the days following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.

He also talks of West Bengal, where he says, the then Deputy Chief Minister Benoy Krishna Chowdhury had issued shoot-at-sight orders and asked the police and administration to deal sternly with trouble makers.

Surjeet mentions that this was necessary as some "political bigwigs" and the "so-called firebrand lady of West Bengal" were trying to organise mayhem.

Banerjee's response was swift, as she filed a defamation suit against Surjeet.

The Congress Party, of which, Banerjee was a member at the time of the riots, was quick to come to her rescue. Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee rubbished Surjeet's allegation questioning 'Where was she at that period of time?'. Mukherjee reasoned that Banerjee was not on the political scene on October 31, 1984.

Interestingly, the Congress which is supported by the CPM at the Centre, is trying to woo Banerjee's party in West Bengal to take on the Communists.

The exchange between Banerjee and Surjeet could well mark the beginning of hostilities in the pre-election build-up in West Bengal where state assembly elections are due early next year.

Sources said that Surjeet's comments might have been aimed at showing that Mamata Banerjee was not untouched by communal politics.

Banerjee does not have an image of being "communal", despite being a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).