Kolkata, Jul 22 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy Monday claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has lost her "mental balance" as she is demanding that BJP leaders return black money.

Hitting back, the Trinamool Congress said Banerjee had lost her mental balance only once when she reccommended the name of Roy, then a TMC MP, as railway minister in 2012.

"It seems that she has lost her mind. She is asking the BJP to return black money. She is lecturing others to return 25 per cent cut money. But what about the remaining 75 per cent which has been siphoned off by her top leaders? They should first return that money and then ask others to follow suit," Roy told reporters.

His comments came in the backdrop of Banerjee's announcement on Sunday that the party will launch a statewide programme on July 26, demanding return of black money allegedly taken by the BJP from the Ujjawala scheme.

The move is apparently aimed at weakening "cut money" protests faced by TMC's elected representatives from people demanding return of illegal commission they had allegedly collected from beneficiaries of government schemes.

Reacting to this, TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, "I think both our party and Mamata Banerjee lost their mental balance when it was decided to reccommend his name as the railway minister in 2012."

Describing the BJP leader as a "traitor", Chatterjee said Roy did not have proper qualification or eligibility for that post but he still became the railway minister because he had Banerjee's support.

"Later on we understood the mistake and threw him out of the party. Now he has joined another party and we are sure that he would also ruin that party," he said.

Roy had switched over to the BJP in 2017 following differences with Banerjee.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)