Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday had a sharp message for her party's Minakhan MLA, Usha Rani Mondal, for allegedly hobnobbing with the BJP.

Mamata said Trinamool would snap all ties with MLA Usha Rani till the MLA apologised for not being present at the Saturday election meeting at Haroa in North 24-Parganas.

An angry Mamata also accused Usha Rani and her husband Mrityunjoy, a zilla parishad member and Minakha Assembly committee chairman, of "selling" the party.

Mamata said: "The party will have no association with those who have not attended today's meeting but wish to continue as Trinamool MLA."

"The BJP has been buying votes with money. They also planned to buy many persons in the same way," Mamata said. "I have no ties with those who keep in touch with the BJP," she said, hinting at Usha Rani.

Infighting within Trinamool in the North 24-Parganas came to light on the day of the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls as Usha Rani and Mrityunjoy skipped Mamata's poll meeting in Haroa.

Insiders said Usha Rani skipped the meeting to avoid humiliating comments from party workers of a rival Trinamool faction led by Haroa block committee president Abdul Khaleque Molla.

But Mamata took the MLA's absence seriously and removed her from party posts as instant "punishment", instructing local leaders to find her replacement.

"Today I made it clear that the party will not continue with you. Those in charge of the organisation will take appropriate steps. Until she touches the feet and begs for an apology, we will not accept Usha Rani Mondal," Mamata said.

"Have you and your husband planned to sell the party? And do you think we will support it? No... it will not be allowed," Mamata said in Haroa where she arrived late by about two hours because of bad weather.

Usha Rani did not respond to calls from this correspondent.

Her husband Mrityunjoy said "Didi was misled". "The MLA and I did not attend the meeting only to save our dignity at stake because of party colleague Abdul Khaleque Mollah," he said, claiming Mollah was the "new version of Shahjahan Sheikh".

"We didn't attend the meeting to avoid humiliation today. During a preparatory meeting recently, Molla humiliated Usha Rani in front of minister Sujit Bose and party candidate Haji Nurul Islam."

Asked if Usha Rani would seek an apology by touching Mamata's feet, Mrityunjoy said: "Why should we? We respect her and touch her feet at every meeting. But this time it is a question of self-respect."

Reacting to charges against him, Molla told The Telegraph: "I will clarify only to the state leadership."