The acerbic fight between the challenger Bharatiya Janata Party and defender Mamata Banerjee just got a little more ugly, with the chief minister urging the women voters in Bengal on Saturday to beat up the BJP “goons with ladle and spatula”.

Mamata Banerjee, who has been playing the “outsider” card with the BJP and has been calling herself the “beti” of Bengal, today alleged that the BJP was bringing in goons from outside to stop people from exercising their franchise in Bengal, and urged women to “confront the hoodlums with ladle, spatula” and other cooking utensils.

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Attacking her opponent in Nandigram, Suvendhu Adhikari – who was a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government till December last when he joined the BJP – she said Adhikari and his family were “traitors” and claimed that one member of the household was seen distributing money among people on Friday night, hours before 30 assembly constituencies of the state went to polls.

“Yesterday, one of the Adhikari brothers was seen distributing money… Women in the area caught him red-handed and asked the police to arrest him. They also handed over 30 goons, all hired from outside, to the police,” she said at two public rallies in Narayangarh and Pingla in West Midnapore district on Saturday.

Her remarks came amid controversy over an audio clip in which, the BJP alleges, Mamata Banerjee was asking her former colleague in the party, who has switched over to the BJP, to rejoin TMC and “help her win Nandigram.”  The allegation has been rejected by the chief minister’s party.

Banerjee, who claimed that the BJP’s fate will be sealed after the first phase of the polls, said: “The BJP is bringing in goons from outside Bengal to places where the party has some foothold. I will urge the women of the state to come out with ‘hata and khunti’ (ladle and spatula) and confront the hoodlums.”

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While taking a dig at Home Minister Amit Shah, she also requested the Election Commission to ensure that the assembly polls are conducted in a fair manner. “Delhi’s Amit Shah wants to conduct the polls in Bengal… I urge the poll body to see to it that the elections are held in a free, fair and impartial manner.”

Mamata Banerjee, who the BJP says is rattled sensing defeat in Nandigram, said that she will be putting up in Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram constituency, where polls are scheduled on April 1, to keep an eye on ‘Mir jafars’ (traitors), referring to the Adhikari family. Suvendhu Adhikari and two other members of the Adhikari family — who hold considerable influence in Purba Medinipur — have quit the TMC and joined the BJP in December.

“I was responsible for giving them plum positions in public offices. They, however, betrayed the TMC and crossed over to the BJP… they were lured with money,” she added.