New Delhi, July 24: First-time Congress MP Sushmita Dev today faced Trinamul leader Kalyan Banerjee's ire after she dubbed Mamata Banerjee a "street fighter" and asked why Trinamul leaders were quiet in the Opposition's protests over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam scandals.

A screaming Kalyan stunned Sushmita, the daughter of the Assam Congress veteran Santosh Mohan Dev, with his outburst in the Lok Sabha as he told the young lady she was in Parliament "because of her father".

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia rushed to control the situation and were seen asking a dazed Sushmita to leave.

Kalyan also left a while later, still shouting and protesting that Sushmita, 43, had no authority to make such remarks against the Trinamul chief. The incident occurred minutes after the House was adjourned and the members had started preparing to leave.

Sushmita, also a Congress spokesperson, later seemed surprised at the fury. "I don't know what made Kalyanda so angry. He is a senior politician and I respect him. If I said something wrong, I apologise," the Silchar MP told The Telegraph .

Asked more about the scrap, Sushmita said: "The chapter is closed from my side. I don't want to talk about it."

The trigger appeared to be the expression "street fighter". "She (Sushmita) said Mamata was a street fighter and asked why Trinamul MPs were silent when other parties were agitating against such serious scams?" a Congress member who witnessed the fracas said.

Other Congress leaders insisted Sushmita was "speaking of Mamata in admiration" as a doughty warrior and claimed Kalyan had not understood the sense she wanted to convey by describing the Bengal chief minister as a "street fighter".

"How can you question the integrity of my leader? How could you do that? I never pass any remarks about your leader Sonia Gandhi. You have no political background. You are here because of your father," Kalyan, known for his raucous interventions in the House, screamed.

Later, the Trinamul MP claimed Sushmita had used "objectionable" language. "She told me, 'have you compromised with the BJP?' and then added 'Mamata Banerjee is finished'. I lost my cool after this," he alleged. Later, however, the Serampore MP suggested the issue was over. "(Jyotiraditya) Scindia came to our party office and sought to offer an apology."

Other Trinamul members termed Sushmita's remarks "personal" in nature.

Trinamul has refrained in both Houses from taking a clear position on the stand-off between the Modi government and the Congress-led Opposition over the scams. Today, the party's Rajya Sabha leader, Derek O'Brien, said: "We will formulate our strategy on a day-to-day basis. The Trinamul Congress is opposed to corruptionTrinamul MPs are likely to stage a protest outside the Parliament on Monday over the Vyapam scam.

An earlier version of this report had mentioned that Congress MP Sushmita Dev is the daughter of "the late" Santosh Mohan Dev. Santosh Mohan Dev is alive and the words "the late" were included by mistake. We apologise to Dev and his family as well as to our readers.