'Abhishek Banerjee Is Our Local Pappu': Agnimitra Paul's Barb At TMC Leader, Rahul Gandhi

After directing the 'Pappu' barb at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Vikramaditya Singh, the BJP has turned its focus on TMC's Abhishek Banerjee.

BJP's Madinipur candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Agnimitra Paul on Monday called Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee 'Pappu' and termed the All India Trinamool Congress 'Local Trinamool Congress'. "We have a national 'pappu' and we have a local 'pappu'... Abhishek Banerjee is a 'pappu'," Agnimitra Paul said while directing a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well.

"Abhishek Banerjee said that don't allow Agnimitra Paul to enter Asansol and she will lose heavily from Medinipur. I challenge Abhishek Banerjee to wait for June 4 and see who stops me from coming to Asansol," the BJP leader said.

The moniker "Pappu" is used as a derogatory term in India's political context to describe a simpleton. The term has been used by the BJP to describe Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Recently, in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the BJP's candidate from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Kangana Ranaut called her Congress rival on the seat Vikramaditya Singh "Chhota Pappu". Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) MLA Abdul Sattar also used the term for a long time in 2022 to describe Uddhav Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray. 

Agnimitra Paul cast her vote for the fourth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections at a polling booth in Asansol. Speaking of the BJP's candidate from Asansol this year, SS Ahluwalia, Paul said: "I think it will be a clean sweep. Our candidate SS Ahluwalia will win because of the work done by our party. It doesn't matter who the candidate is. BJP will win."

Agnimitra Paul, who is the incumbent MLA from the Asansol Dakshin Vidhan Sabha seat, lost to the TMC's Shatrughan Sinha in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She then won the 2021 assembly elections against TMC's Saayoni Ghosh. Saayoni Ghosh is now the president of the West Bengal Trinamool Youth Congress.

Agnimitra Paul also took a swipe at Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, saying she was misleading Muslim voters on the issue of NRC. "She may dream of not allowing CAA or not allowing NRC and confusing the people. We haven't talked about NRC. She's confusing our Muslim brothers and sisters."