New Delhi: In harsh remarks against the Central government amid the Coronavirus pandemic which has slowed down the economy, a TMC leader called Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman a "venomous snake", accusing her of "destroying the economy." ALSO READ | Sonia Writes To PM Modi As Fuel Prices Rise For 10th Straight Day; Check The Latest Rates In Top Cities

While addressing a protest rally on Saturday at Bankura against increasing fuel prices and privatisation of railways, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee asked Sitharaman to resign from the post saying, "She has destroyed the economy. She should be ashamed and resign from her post."

He went to link the Finance Minister with a venomous snake that kills people. "The way people die due to bite of 'Kala Nagini' (venomous snake), the same way, people are dying due to Nirmala Sitharaman," Banerjee said.


The TMC Lok Sabha member also called her "the worst finance minister" in the world.

The tussle between the duo has come after Indian Railways earlier this week invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation for the operation of passenger train services over 109 Origin-Destination(OD) pairs of routes through the introduction of 151 modern Trains (Rakes).

READ HERE | Railway Ministry Invites Private Sector In Passenger Train Operation Over 109 Routes

The 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 Clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each Train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches. The ministry said that majority of trains will be manufactured in India under the Make in India project. The private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation, and maintenance of the trains.

Responding to Banerjee's comments, BJP state party president Dilip Ghosh said that TMC supremo has lost grip over her party leaders.

"Corruption has spread in the TMC from top to bottom; they have become puzzled by internal feud and many of them are making senseless comments to divert the attention from the situation prevailing in the ruling party. We don't give much importance to such comments.... they are uttering such nonsense out of frustration," Ghosh said, as quoted in PTI report.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties in Delhi, Patna, Bengaluru organised cycle march against the fuel price hike in the country. The opposition has alleged that the Central government took advantage of the Coronavirus situation and increased it to 30 percent from 20 percent.