Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh has accused the BJP’s Maniktala nominee and All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey of offering a bribe, the development coming a day before the bypolls in the four Bengal Assembly constituencies of Maniktala, Bagdah, Ranaghat South and Raigunj.

Ahead of the bypolls, Ghosh was appointed as convener of the Trinamul’s four-member committee to manage the Maniktala constituency, which was represented by the late state minister Sadhan Pande.

“Around 11.30pm on Sunday, July 7, the BJP nominee and AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey called me, requesting my help in the by-election, knowing fully well that I am the Trinamul’s convener for the by-election,” Ghosh said in a news conference. “I have shared a partial clipping of the conversation on my social media account.

“He [Chaubey] told me that if I would help him, then he would try to accommodate me in a position in a state level or national level sports organisation. He is misusing his official position. He is on that seat [AIFF president] to serve his political purpose,” Ghosh said.

Since Pande’s death in February 2022, the Maniktala seat has been vacant as Choubey had moved court challenging the 2021 Assembly election result when he lost from the same seat to the deceased leader.

Chaubey withdrew the case after the Supreme Court questioned why the case could not be heard on a daily basis and threatened to strip him of his official positions in the AIFF and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), where he is a joint secretary.

Trinamul has fielded Pande’s widow, Supti Pande, from the seat.

Ghosh reminded journalists that after his release from the prison in the Saradha case in October 2016, the Narendra Modi government had offered him the post of the telecom advisory committee’s chairman, as he was still a Rajya Sabha MP though suspended from the Trinamul, but he had turned it down.

“He wanted me to betray my party and sabotage the poll process. He is aware that the people of Maniktala will reject him like they have in the past,” Ghosh said.

Reacting to the allegations, Chaubey said Ghosh had committed a crime by releasing a private conversation.

“This was a courtesy call. By releasing an edited version, he has committed an offence. Nobody can be appointed to any official position [in a sports body] just like that. This is an attempt to tarnish my image. I am confident of the support of the people of Maniktala,” Chaubey said.

Chaubey claimed that Ghosh had initiated the call and is keen to join the BJP.

"Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he was keen to join the BJP but the party did not want him," said Chaubey. "Two weeks ago through a mediator he had reached out to me and said he wanted to join the BJP. Towards the end of this month he will be meeting my party leadership outside Bengal and join the BJP."

Chaubey added after this controversy, Ghosh might change the date: "Don’t be surprised if two months later he joins the BJP."

Chaubey repeated: "I did not try to bribe him. If the entire audio clipping is released it would be clear. I know many people from other parties and I have appealed to all of them to support me in this election."

Chaubey claimed he did not make any offer to Ghosh and the audio was doctored.

"He had asked me to call around 10.30pm and later moved it to 11pm. I did not call from my number, I called him because I knew he was going to meet my party leaders two weeks from now. Therefore it was natural for me to seek his help. I am not in the habit of recording calls or else the entire conversation would have been clear."

Ghosh predicted that Trinamul would win the Maniktala seat by a margin of 20,000 votes. ”If he is so confident about the people of Maniktala, why did he continue with the court case for two years since Sadhan Pande’s death?” Ghosh said.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP had won the Ranaghat South, Bagdah and Raigunj seats, but the MLAs later defected to the Trinamul. Some of them were fielded in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls but lost.

Trinamul has fielded the turncoats Krishna Kalyani and Mukut Mani Adhikari from Raigunj and Ranaghat South, while in Bagdah the nominee is Madhuparna Thakur of the Matua community and daughter of the Trinamul’s Rajya Sabha MP Mamatabala Thakur.

Apart from Chaubey, the BJP has fielded Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat South, Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagdah and Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raigunj.