Trinamool MP gets life threat, Mamata cries vendetta, intolerance

Kolkata/New Delhi, Dec 22  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday cried "intolerance" and "political vendetta" after her party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay said he has received a death threat.

Raising the issue in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay said he received an SMS on Monday night, threatening to kill him.

Banerjee, on a visit to East Midnapore district, said she instructed Bandyopadhyay to raise the issue in parliament as well as writing to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and filing a police complaint.

Without taking names, the chief minister said the MP was getting the threats for being vocal in parliament.

"They are threatening Sudip to kill him in Delhi and dispose off his body in Kolkata. This is nothing but intolerance.

"What kind of vendetta is this? Sudip da is getting death threats for being vocal in parliament. Every party has the right to speak on any issue. Voices cannot be muzzled in a democracy," said the Trinamool chairperson.

Stating that political leaders, artists and even people from cultural field are being silenced and intolerance is rising every day, she said: "If they do not want the opposition to speak, let them impose Emergency. I have instructed Sudip to raise the issue in Lok Sabha." 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Bandyopadhyay urged the speaker to direct the union home minister to take necessary steps in this regard.

"The language of the SMS is so vulgar that it cannot be uttered. But this is not the first time that I have received threat. Last time when it happened, the union home minister took immediate steps. But the threats have continued. I don't know who are behind this," he said.

"I request you (Speaker) to direct the union home minister to take up this issue seriously and make suitable arrangements," said Bandyopadhyay in the house.