BJP leaks WhatsApp chats of TMC MPs' spat, mystery over ‘versatile lady’

BHaratiya Janata company (BJP) IT cadre chief Amit Malviya on mon shared purported WhatsApp schmooze screenshots, claiming they showed a bitterness argument between MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad of the West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), suggesting an infighting within the party.Amit Malviya shared video showing a verbal altercation between party MPs and screenshots of heated exchanges from its official WhatsApp group for parliamentarians.HT, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the screenshots circulating on social media, which include Kalyan Banerjee apparently congratulating the "gentleman who opened the beautiful activities of versatile international lady", declaring, "Not a single boyfriend stood with her".The "versatile international lady" in question is reportedly also a Trinamool MP.Text of leaked WhatsApp chatsKalyan Banerjee: I reached Kolkata. Send your bsf and delhi police to arrest me. Your home ministy's connection is very strong, international great lady. [sic]Kalyan Banerjee: Today I congratulate the gentleman who opened the beautiful activities of versatile international lady. That day not a single boyfriend of her stood behind her. This foolish man whome she wanted to arrested by bsf, stood behind her. Today of course 30 years famous player stood behind her to get me arrested [sic]Kirti Azad: Take it easy Kalyan. You have had one too many. Don't act like a juvenile delinquent. You have been entrusted with a very serious responsibility by Didi to take everyone along with you [sic]. Kirti Azad: So relax, have a nice sleep. I have no axe to grind with you.. I humbly request you as a senior in age to me, not in politics to kindly take everyone together. Stop your childish and erratic behaviour. Act like an adult. Don't instigate anybody. Think with the cool mind. Good night [sic].Kalyan Banerjee: Don't advice me kirti. You were thrown out from bip for doing internel politics. You are not senior in age of mine. You wanted to sell the party yesterday. You are still captain of doing internel politics. Your popularity is so much that you lost election in cricket. Let me see your power to get me arrested for your friend. Do not worry i will go to durgapur and open your musk [sic].I am discharging the responsibility since 2011. All you have hachted up plan who have come to party when party is in power [sic]Kalyan Banerjee confirms altercationAmit Malviya claimed that the exchange on WhatsApp was triggered by a previous confrontation at the Election Commission headquarters between two TMC MPs, one of them a woman. The MPs had reportedly visited the EC to submit a party memorandum, but the situation escalated into a tense altercation, which later spilled over into the party’s internal communication channels.Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, TMC's Kalyan Banerjee confirmed that an altercation occurred but placed the blame on the woman MP.“I have been in politics for the last 40 years. This woman MP was asking the security personnel outside the EC office to arrest me. Who are they to send me to jail? She hurled abuses towards me. It is I who fight in Parliament; I am not someone who is only obsessed with a specific industrial house,” news agency PTI quoted Kalyan Banerjee as saying.“Just because the woman MP speaks fluent English doesn’t mean she can insult anybody,” Banerjee added. He is also the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha.Senior TMC leaders have confirmed that the issue has been escalated to party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Sources within the party revealed that following the altercation, the woman MP exited the WhatsApp group and sent letters to both Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.A senior TMC leader cited in a PTI report, requesting anonymity, explained that the argument erupted last week when a party delegation visited the Election Commission to submit the memorandum. Kalyan Banerjee allegedly clashed with the woman MP over the signing of the document. She subsequently requested security personnel to intervene and demanded Kalyan Banerjee’s arrest, accusing him of misconduct towards a woman parliamentarian.Both MPs are said to have lodged verbal complaints with Mamata Banerjee regarding the incident.The situation further escalated when Banerjee and Kirti Azad engaged in a heated argument on the party’s WhatsApp group. Banerjee claimed, “It was Kirti Azad who provoked me and was lecturing me on what to do. He has leaked the WhatsApp chats.”Senior TMC MP Sougata Roy weighed in on the controversy, accusing Kalyan Banerjee of damaging the party’s reputation.“What he has done has maligned the party. It should immediately remove Kalyan Banerjee from the post of chief whip. He misbehaves and insults everyone in the party. It must take stern action against him,” Sougata Roy told reporters.Earlier, Roy had expressed ignorance about the incident but later acknowledged that whatever transpired had indeed defamed the party.Meanwhile, Amit Malviya continued to post about the controversy on X.“Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs in the precincts of the Election Commission of India on 4th April 2025, the irate MP continued slandering the ‘Versatile International Lady (VIL)’… This is the stuff legends are made of!” he said in a post on Tuesday. “It is obvious that the chat screenshots and videos of TMC MPs squabbling have been leaked from within… Help Mamata Banerjee figure out who leaked them,” Amit Malviya added in another post.