The TMC on Tuesday criticised BJP likening it to a “washing machine” that transforms corrupt individuals into virtuous figures upon joining the saffron party and asserted that the recent Dhupguri by-election loss and successful meetings of the opposition INDIA had resulted in the ED summoning its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“The summons by the ED to Abhishek Banerjee to appear before it on September 13 is a direct result of the defeat in the Dhupguri by-polls, where BJP lost the seat to us,” senior TMC minister Sashi Panja claimed.
“The BJP is petrified after the successful meetings of the INDIA opposition bloc and wants to stop Abhishek Banerjee, who was scheduled to be present at its first coordination committee meeting in Delhi on September 13, at any cost,” she claimed.
Referring to turncoat leaders in other states, she said the CBI and ED never took any action against a “leader once they surrender or join BJP.” Panja claimed that the ED and CBI send summons to Abhishek Banerjee whenever there is a crucial political event.
“When TMC’s mass outreach campaign was in full swing, the central agencies asked him twice to appear before them. It is understood that the summons were made on days which coincided with essential events to stop Abhishek Banerjee. The ED’s summons is a clear move to distrupt his political calendar and to stop him from attending the first meeting of the coordination committee of the INDIA alliance,” she said.
Another TMC minister, Partha Bhowmick, too hit out at the saffron party and said, “The BJP can continue with its harassment of the party’s leaders, but we are not going to cow down before it. Abhishek Banerjee is not a coward and has committed no wrong”.
In the last nine years, the ED and CBI have lodged 118 cases against leaders of opposition parties, out of which 30 are against the TMC. “The BJP cannot fight us politically as it has always tasted defeat whenever it has tried to do so. So it is using central agencies to fight the proxy battle for it,” he added.
The ruling Trinamool Congress wrested Dhupguri Assembly seat in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district from BJP after defeating it by over 4,000 votes in a triangular contest.
Reacting to TMC’s claims, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dubbed its allegations of using CBI and ED to harass Banerjee as “baseless”.
“Whenever the TMC leaders get summoned by the CBI or ED, they blame us (the BJP). If they have any grievances, they can move court,” he said.
Abhishek Banerjee on Monday confirmed to PTI that he will appear before the ED on September 13 as summoned by the central agency.
He posted on ‘X’ on Sunday that he has been served a notice by the central probe agency to appear before it on September 13 for questioning.
He will skip its first meeting to appear before the Enforcement Directorate as September 13 coincides with the first coordination committee meeting of the opposition bloc ‘INDIA’, party sources said.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had on Monday denounced the summons sent by the ED to Abhishek Banerjee, her nephew who is also accused in a case related to cow smuggling, terming it as a bid to “browbeat a youth leader”.
In June, the ED had sent a notice to Banerjee summoning him to appear before it on June 13 for a probe into alleged illegal appointments in government and government-sponsored primary school jobs scam in West Bengal. He had then declined to comply, citing his engagements with the mass outreach campaign then and the July rural polls in the state.
He had faced nine hours of questioning by CBI on May 20 in connection with its investigation into the primary school jobs scam.
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