The political thunder began rolling in west bengal A few minutes before 3pm, governor Tripathi’s office placed a call to the chief minister’s cellphone.

Thirty minutes earlier, a delegation led by RSS south Bengal chief Jishnu Basu and BJP state vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar had entered the Raj Bhavan to draw the governor’s attention to the unrest in Baduria. Some sources suggested that the delegation was still inside the Raj Bhavan when the governor spoke to Mamata but the version could not be independently verified.

Soon after, Mamata went public with the call at the news conference that opened the floodgates when Didi uttered, “I have told the Hon’ble governor that ‘you cannot talk to me like this’. The way the governor is speaking, it seems that the BJP block president is speaking.... After this insult, I had myself thought that I would resign. I have never been insulted in this way in my whole life,” Mamata said. She added: “I’m really sorry if I have hurt anybody because of what I said. I apologise for that. But my conscience was extremely hurt today. I have not sat on this chair just for the sake of it. I work hard to accomplish whatever I can.”

Completely offguard of this bomb shell from west bengal CM Raj Bhavan said the governor was “surprised” at the “attitude and language” used by the chief minister during the news conference. The statement said that “talks” between the chief minister and the governor were “confidential in nature and none is expected to disclose it”.

The chief minister did not make public the specific content of the governor’s conversation but said Tripathi, who was closely allied with the BJP and the RSS before taking up the gubernatorial assignment, was speaking like a “BJP block president”.

The sources said the governor accused police of doing nothing while one community was on the rampage and another was being targeted.

The unprecedented disclosure by the chief minister which was followed by a Trinamul Congress demand to recall the governor and a BJP call for central intervention came at a particularly fraught time.

Prior outburst at the news conference, the chief minister issued a blunt message: “I want to tell both communities and their leaders, listen if you have ears. See if you have eyes. I have had to suffer a lot of humiliation because of you.... I am not going to tolerate this hooliganism.”

This is resultant of Facebook post had ignited unrest at Baduria in Basirhat and adjoining areas in North 24-Parganas. The person responsible for the post has been arrested, four companies of BSF have been deployed and community leaders pressed into service to advocate peace.

Some police vehicles have been set on fire and the superintendent of police attacked. No death or any grievous injury was reported but the situation remained tense, the official added.