West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over accusations of nepotism  in his party, daring it to bring a law banning entry of more than one member of a family in politics.

“There’ll be only Mamata Banerjee from our family in politics, if you (BJP) ensure that there will be only one member of a family in politics. Can you accept this challenge? I request the PM to bring a bill in Parliament allowing only 1 member of a family in politics,” Abhishek Banerjee, Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Diamond Harbour constituency, said, according to ANI.

“I’ll leave politics in 24 hrs. Those who are talking about the family system have 5 members each of their families in politics. Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya , Suvendu Adhikari and Rajnath Singh have other members of their families in prominent positions,” Banerjee said at a rally, reports ANI.

This was in response to allegations of nepotism by the BJP against the Chief Minister. Home Minister Amit Shah at a recent rally in poll-bound West Bengal said that the TMC slogan of “Maa, Mati, Manush” (mother, motherland and people) has been reduced to “extortion, corruption and nepotism”.

Assembly polls are due in West Bengal in April-May this year and the state is already in the throes of heated campaigning. All top central leaders, including PM Narendra Modi,  have been to the state and addressed rallies.

The two parties are engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the state going to polls in April this year. The BJP is making aggressive inroads in the state ruled by Mamata Banerjee for the past 10 years. The saffron party’s vote share went up from 17% in 2014 Lok Sabha elections to 40% in 2019 and the number of seats grew from 2 to 18.