Former Kolkata Mayor slams reports of joining BJP, calls it baseless

Trinamool Congress leader and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee Wednesday denied reports that he is joining the BJP and asserted that canards were being spread against him by a quarter. "I received no offer from any political party to join till now. These reports are baseless and I don't want to even react to them. But I am really hurt the way canards are being spread against me deliberately," Chatterjee told reporters.

Chatterjee had resigned from the post of Kolkata Mayor and a minister in the state cabinet in November last year over personal issues. Since then he has been staying away from politics. But for last one week there have been reports that Chatterjee along with his friend Baisakhi Banerjee might join the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The speculations gained momentum after Chatterjee along with Banerjee have been threatened by "goons" during their stay at a resort in South 24 Parganas district earlier this week. They were threatened that they will have to face consequences if they join BJP.

(With inputs from agencies.)