West Bengal Pradesh Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday, took a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee, when he referred to her as "Paltu Kumari" during a joint press conference with Left Front chairman Biman Basu, in Kolkata.

Comparing Mamata Banerjee to Bihar Chief Minister and Janta Dal (United) or JD(U) supremo, Nitish Kumar, Chowdhury said, “Let me ask a question. Mamata Banerjee takes pride that she named the opposition bloc. Then why did you take a U-turn at a later stage? Why did you turn out to be ‘Paltu Kumari’, just as Nitish Kumar turned out to be ‘Paltu Kumar’?”

Speaking to the press, the Congress leader said, “I am strongly hopeful that the Congress-Left seat-sharing alliance will be very productive (in West Bengal),” as quoted by Deccan Herald.

According to the newspaper, Chowdhury said, “Don't be surprised if (the) TMC makes a pact with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to save its government in West Bengal in the future.”

The Congress leader also slammed the BJP for witch hunting opposition leaders using central probe agencies.

While asserting the TMC and the BJP’s secret understanding, he pointed out that while the ministers of Delhi and Jharkhand are behind bars, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is roaming free despite grave corruption charges labelled against him.