The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday posted private WhatsApp chats between two Trinamool Congress MPs - Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad - that seem to show them squabbling over divisions within Bengal's ruling party and referring to the "beautiful activities of (a) versatile international lady".
Responding to the leaks on behalf of the Trinamool - under fire as it preps for next year's high-stakes Assembly election - veteran leader Sougata Roy said, "The screenshots which have been published have put us to shame and embarrassment. This should not have happened..."
"Every party should maintain internal privacy," he said, urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to act.
Screenshots of the WhatsApp messages were posted on X by the BJP's Amit Malviya.
NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these messages, which apparently include Mr Azad indicating Mr Banerjee has had too much to drink ("... you have had one too many") and telling the Lok Sabha leader "... stop your childish and erratic behaviour. Act like an adult..."
It also includes Mr Banerjee - who also made headlines for smashing a glass bottle on the table during a meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill - apparently congratulating the "gentleman who opened the beautiful activities of versatile international lady", declaring, "Not a single boyfriend stood with her".
He also attacked Mr Azad, a former India cricketer. "... you (Mr Azad) were thrown out of BJP for doing internal politics... you are still captain of internal politics," he declared.
The "versatile international lady" in question is reportedly also a Trinamool MP.
Mr Banerjee later issued a statement naming the Trinamool's Mahua Moitra as the "rude" and "uncivilised" MP with whom he had clashed.
Accompanying Mr Malviya's post was a claim from the BJP leader - that the alleged Banerjee-Azad squabble began after a Trinamool MP carrying a memorandum for the Election Commission skipped instructions, that all MPs gather at Parliament, and went solo to the EC's Delhi office.
"This angered another MP... who confronted him when they came face-to-face at the Election Commission. A heated exchange followed... with the two shouting at each other..."
"So much so that one of them asked police personnel present to intervene," he claimed.
"The matter escalated quickly and reached Mamata Banerjee, who reportedly asked both MPs to stand down. But the feud... spilled over into the 'AITC MP 2024' WhatsApp group, where warring camps took sides and traded barbs," Mr Malviya posted on X.
"... the question still lingers: who exactly is the 'versatile international lady'?"
The WhatsApp chats were reportedly exchanged a day after the alleged Banerjee-Azad public spat.
"Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs on the precincts of the Election Commission of India on April 4... the irate MP continued slandering the 'Versatile International Lady'..."
"This is the stuff legends are made of..." Mr Malviya declared in his post.
In the videos Mr Banerjee, a four-time Lok Sabha MP, and Derek O'Brien, the Trinamool's Rajya Sabha leader, can be heard and seen, as too can at least four women MPs.
In one section of the video Mr Banerjee seems to be heard claiming he does not owe his position as a Trinamool MP either to any 'quota' or because he had joined from a rival political outfit.
Again, NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos.
With input from agencies
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