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BJP State General Secretary Locket Chatterjee alleged that law enforcement agencies were conducting searches at the Kolkata residence of TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was carrying out searches at seven premises linked to TMC MLA Madan Mitra in connection with the municipality recruitment scam case.
The developments come amid growing political turmoil in the state, with an FIR reportedly being lodged against former Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over alleged communal remarks made during a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. According to allegations, Banerjee had told members of a minority community that their safety depended on her leadership and urged them not to be influenced by what she termed the BJP's "misleading" statements. Expelled TMC leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Sandipan Saha, claimed that the number of rebel TMC MLAs supporting a dissident faction had increased. "The number is 64. When we started, the number was 58. We did not think that so many MLAs would join us. It has increased from 58 to 64," Saha told reporters. Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee confirmed that he had received a notice from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with a speech-related case and would appear before the agency on June 14. "You know I have been summoned by the CID. I remained there for 5.30 hours. I am summoned again on 14th June. I will attend that. I always cooperate with this kind of investigation," Banerjee said. He further alleged that multiple cases were being filed against him after a change in government and questioned why no action had been taken against Union Home Minister Amit Shah over what he termed "provocative statements." "Many people are running source-based stories fed by CID in connection with my appearance. We will move the High Court against this matter in connection with the leaks being made when I am not sharing any information in this sub-judice matter. We will not leave an inch in this battle. You cannot bend us; we are not afraid of agencies," Banerjee said. Addressing recent criticism from senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, who had reportedly termed him "arrogant" over his decision to change legal counsel in a signature forgery case, Abhishek Banerjee refrained from escalating the dispute. "I will not speak against him. Our differences are personal. There are no grudges, and I believe internal party matters should not be discussed publicly," he said. In another significant development, rebel TMC MP Jagadish Barma Basunia said that around 20 dissident Trinamool MPs would meet the Lok Sabha Speaker on Monday and extend support to the NDA "in national interest." "We have been given a date for Monday. All rebel MPs will go to meet the Speaker. They are arriving in Delhi tomorrow. A meeting of all MPs with CM Suvendu Adhikari will be held on Sunday, and then we will meet the Speaker on Monday. Nineteen MPs will be there," Basunia said. The developments also drew national attention after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reportedly told leaders of the INDIA bloc that elections were being "stolen" and urged opposition parties not to fall for BJP propaganda. Gandhi is said to have expressed concern that some alliance partners, including the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), continued to believe that traditional political strategies would remain effective in the current political environment. The series of developments has intensified political activity in West Bengal, with investigations, allegations of corruption, internal rebellion within the TMC, and opposition attacks likely to dominate the state's political discourse in the coming days. (ANI)
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