Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stirred a row by calling upon her nephew, Trinamool Congress MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on the stage of a state government programme in Alipurduar.

After being invited by the Chief Minister, Abhishek, who holds no post in the state government, took the stage, greeted people and then left.

Mamata in the middle of her speech said, "Abhishek is here but he is reluctant to take the stage as he doesn't hold a post in the government. But I would like to invite him on the stage as the MP."

Abhishek, who is the number two man of the ruling TMC, is a two-term Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour constituency which falls in the South 24 Parganas district.

Slamming the Chief Minister, West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari said, "John Barla is the MP of Alipurduar but he has not been invited on the stage but her (Mamata Banerjee's) nephew, who won by rigging in Diamond Harbour, can be called!"

CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty said, "The incident shows how the Chief Minister uses the government platforms for political purposes. She always does this."

Abhishek's rise to politics and TMC has often created speculation of him becoming Mamata's successor but the Lok Sabha MP had made it clear, "I won't assume any government post in 20 years."

Abhishek's meteoric rise in politics and TMC had openly created a rift in the ruling party prompting several leaders to quit before the 2021 assembly elections.

It is assumed Adhikari, who is the current LoP, had quit the TMC over his differences with Abhishek Banerjee.