The leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has said Trinamool Congress leader Atin Ghosh expressed interest in joining the BJP before the 2021 Assembly elections, but Ghosh, who is Calcutta deputy mayor, firmly rejected the claim.

Speaking at a press conference in Debra, East Midnapore, on Friday, the Nandigram MLA asserted that Ghosh, along with two to three other senior TMC leaders, had approached him before the 2021 elections.

Adhikari claimed that Ghosh had expressed his desire to contest from the Kashipur-Belgachia constituency on a BJP ticket if the TMC denied him nomination.

“He (Atin Ghosh) met me at Kolaghat and said if he was denied a nomination by Trinamool from Kashipur-Belgachia, he was ready to contest on a BJP ticket,” Adhikari said.

Ghosh, who is an MLA of Kashipur-Belgachia, rejected the allegations. “There is no truth in his (Adhikari's) statement. I met him only when he was with Trinamool. Since he joined the BJP, I have had no contact with him,” said Ghosh.

“He claims that I met him in 2021. If that was true, why bring it up now? This is irrelevant,” Ghosh added.

This is not the first time that Adhikari trained his guns against Ghosh.

Recently, Adhikari had alleged that people associated Ghosh were instrumental in vandalising R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 14. The vandalism occurred when people in large numbers responded to the "Reclaim the night" call to protest against the rape and murder of the young doctor at the medical facility on August 9.

Although senior Trinamool leaders shied away from making any comments, former Rajya Sabha member of the party, Santanu Sen, in a Facebook post asked Ghosh to hold a press conference and file a defamation case against Adhikari.

“If the leader of the Opposition has the courage, let him accept Atin Ghosh's challenge. We believe our beloved Atinda will unmask the accuser and prove him a liar,” Sen, who is known to be a critic of the MLA, said.