BJP's Locket Chatterjee vs Trinamool In Parliament Over "Cut Money"

BJP lawmaker Locket Chatterjee's comments on "cut money" - a term used to describe bribery allegations against Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress - provoked a row in parliament today.

Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyay demanded that Locket Chatterjee's remarks in the Lok Sabha be removed from the records. A fierce back-and-forth between the Trinamool and the ruling BJP took up several moments in the zero hour.

"Don't make this house the Bengal assembly," Speaker Om Birla said to the shouting MPs.

He assured that he would examine the records and take a decision.

The BJP, which has made massive inroads in Bengal in the recent national election and plans to consolidate its base for the 2021 state polls, has made "cut money" the focus of its campaign against the ruling party in the state.

Mamata Banerjee has reportedly asked her party men to return the "cut money", which refers to "commission" illegally taken from ordinary citizens for the delivery of government services and schemes.

Locket Chatterjee, a BJP parliamentarian from Bengal, yesterday targeted Mamata Banerjee in a statement in the Lok Sabha.

"Cut-money is taken by Trinamool leaders from birth to death. The chief minister has accepted that their leaders take it and therefore, asked them to return it. She had said to her party leaders to keep 25 per cent and give 75 per cent to her. Ministers from top to bottom are involved," the Bengal lawmaker had said during the Zero Hour.