Kolkata/IBNS: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pulled up its national vice president and former West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh for his controversial remarks against state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee right at the start of his campaign for the upcoming General Elections.

Ghosh, who has been fielded by the BJP from Bardhaman-Durgapur seat, questioned Mamata's paternal details in an all-out attack on the Chief Minister.

The remark which had irked the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) reads, "When she goes to Goa, she claims to be the daughter of the state. When she goes to Tripura, she claims to be the daughter of the state... She should clarify who her father is. It's not good to be anybody's daughter."

In response to Ghosh's remarks, the TMC lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and alleged it was a violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Pulling up the leader, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda told Ghosh that the party does not endorse his derogatory remarks and sought an explanation.

Following the criticism from his own party, Ghosh, who has courted several controversies with his remarks in the past, apologised but that did not stop him from targeting the TMC leaders.

"I have criticised the Chief Minister's kind of politics and in the way, I used some words which didn't go down well with several people and also my party. I apologise for that," Ghosh said and added, "But a leader from her (Mamata Banerjee) party and family had attacked the father of my colleague Suvendu Adhikari. Doesn't a male politician have any respect?"

During the 2021 assembly elections, Ghosh had courted controversy by suggesting Mamata to wear bermudas if she wanted to show off legs.

The context is Mamata was injured in one of her legs and she went on a wheelchair to campaign for the whole elections.

Ghosh, who won the parliamentary elections from Midnapore in 2019, has been shifted to Bardhaman-Durgapur seat by his party to take on TMC candidate Kirti Azad.