A day after saying he would file a criminal defamation case against Kolkata-based lawyer Santanu Sinha for allegedly making ‘slanderous’ comments against him, BJP leader Amit Malviya on Thursday asserted that these are attempts by the TMC to keep him out of West Bengal, which will not succeed.

Malviya, who is BJP’s Bengal co-in-charge and the party’s IT cell chief, challenged Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to address concerns about Sandeshkhali through proper channels rather than resorting to smear campaigns.

“Mamata Banerjee must find other legitimate means to wipe the taint of #Sandeshkhali instead of using fringe elements to fling muck on me. Such attempts to keep me out of Bengal won’t work. I ain’t leaving till @BJP4Bengal ensures justice for the women of Sandeshkhali and ousts the TMC from power,” he posted on X.

Malviya, also the convener of the BJP IT cell, added, “For the uninitiated, the BJP and even the Left had branded Hindu Samhati as Trinamool’s Hindutva wing”.

Malviya was referring to allegations leveled by lawyer and Hindu Samhati leader Santanu Sinha.

He also shared a photograph of Sinha outside TMC Bhawan with the post.

Reacting to it, Sinha told PTI, “Last year on August 16, we on behalf of Hindu Samhati had organized a programme and had invited all political parties including TMC, CPI(M), Congress , BJP and others. This photograph was taken after I came out of the TMC Bhawan after giving the invitation.

Malviya has already sent a legal notice to Sinha for making “false and defamatory statements” against him and demanded an apology.

In the legal notice, Malviya’s lawyer said Sinha, in a post on Facebook, made “some false and defamatory allegations” with an intention to harm his client’s reputation..”

Sinha had said he is ready for a legal fight and added that he will not withdraw the post.

“If my post hurts Mr Malviya and/or undermines my party for such misinterpretation and edited version, I do express my heartfelt sorrow for the same. Since I have not written anything untoward in my post, with the mission to malign, I am not withdrawing the post, the bone of contention,” he had said in a Facebook post.