On the annual commemoration day of martyrs at Lalgarh’s Netai in Jhargram district, war of words between Suvendu Adhikari and Madan Mitra heated up the politics in West Bengal’s Jangal Mahal.

Adhikari, TMC-turned-BJP behemoth, and his former colleague Mitra on Thursday engaged in the battle of rhetorics as they tried to woo the citizens of Netai ahead of the 2021 Bengal State Assembly election.

7th January in 2011 had witnessed mass-murders by allegedly CPIM-backed miscreants. Nine villagers were shot in the firing from CPIM leader Rathin Mondal’s home.

Adhikari, who had always led the annual event in Netai under TMC’s flag, reached the region early on Thursday morning without any party symbol. It was the first time that a BJP leader marked the day with such hue and cry.

Later in the day, TMC organised its official programme there. It was attended by heavyweight leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Chatradhar Mahato, alongside Mitra.

It was from this stage that Mitra, former taxi union leader, aimed his weapon at Adhikari in his usual magniloquent demeanor and challenged the turncoat leader to beat him.

“I’ll ask Mamata Banerjee to allow me to contest from Nandigram and see if Suvendu Adhikari can beat me. If I can’t stop him from entering Nandigram with sword, I’ll take the same sword to cut my hand,” Mitra said.

Thr ex-Transport Minister of West Bengal also boasted about his political ability to give birth to TMC leaders at every block of Jangal Mahal who would resist the saffron surge.

Reacting to Mitra, the 56-year-old Adhikari said, “They never came to Netai from 2012. Now they have been sent by Mamata Banerjee and honourable bhaipo.”

“They have sent a person whose only job is to come live on Facebook drunk. He has said a lot of things. We won’t be able to speak in the langauge he has used. We belong to the land of Vidyasagar.”

The former Minister of West Bengal further said, “He lost in 2016 from Kamarhati. Then in 2019 by-election he lost in Bhatpara to Arjun Singh’s son Pawan Singh, who is younger than his own son. He will win in Nandigram?”