Continuing the duel between the TMC and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, party leader Derek O'Brien on Saturday accused him of being a spokesperson for the BJP.
The war of words had started after Dhankhar expressed anguish over a video purportedly showing the bodies of COVID-19 victims being disposed of in a disrespectful manner in the state.
The video was later declared to be “fake” by the police, who claimed that the bodies were not of COVID-19 patients and that they were unclaimed and unidentified bodies from the hospital morgue.
In an online press conference, O'Brien, who is TMC spokesperson and leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, asked why the governor was targeting the state over the coronavirus issue.
"First he would tweet on their behalf and now he is also on TV. He is now officially the BJP spokesperson. He is linking a video of a dead body with coronavirus. Why is he selective on West Bengal? Why is he not questioning what is happening in Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh where the testing is much lower than that of Bengal? Look at the situation in Balarampur, where a body was transported in a garbage van, but he does not tweet about that," O'Brien said.
"These things don't draw the attention of this publicity monger, headline hunting maniac,” he said, listing the NHRC notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and other incidents which he said should have drawn Dhankar's attention.
Earlier, in a series of tweets on Saturday, Dhankhar again referred to the video and said the manner of disposal of the dead bodies was "uncivilised and uncouth".
"Our age-old traditions were mercilessly decimated by repeated dragging of dead bodies by iron hook. Urge immediate apology to society at large,” he said.
Claiming that the state was way ahead in testing for the pandemic, O'Brien said while West Bengal tested 9,169 people a day, Gujarat tested 4,000 a day and Madhya Pradesh tested 3,576 on an average per day.
He advised Dhankhar to read the COVID-19 bulletin issued by the state daily and then comment on the readiness of the state to deal with the pandemic.
"Only 26 per cent beds in West Bengal are occupied while 74 per cent are still vacant. We have 69 COVID hospitals and 45 testing centres. I just want to remind the governor that he should not compare himself to the chief minister of the state. While she has been elected by the 10 crore people of Bengal, he is a nominated lollypop that the centre gives out," the TMC leader said.