BJP utilizing central businesses to pursue vendetta politics, says TMC after ED grills Abhishek for 8 hours

By PTI

KOLKATA: The ruling TMC on Monday accused the BJP of using central businesses to pursue vendetta politics after its MP Abhishek Banerjee will get questioned for eight hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in reference to an alleged coal rip-off in Bengal.

The BJP management was fast to hit again, stating that the ED and CBI are impartial businesses. The social gathering puzzled why the TMC grunbled each time its leaders had been summoned.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday appeared earlier than the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi for questioning in a cash laundering case linked to the alleged coal rip-off.

The 34-year-old Trinamool Congress (TMC) nationwide normal secretary was seen coming into the brand new workplace of the central probe company in Delhi round 11 am.

He left the ED workplace round 7:30 pm. “ED and CBI are the biggest allies of the BJP. As they cannot fight us politically, ED and CBI are used to counter us. The BJP lost Bengal elections in 2021; they will register a poor performance again in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. This is nothing but vendetta politics,” Banerjee informed reporters after the questioning.

Echoing him, TMC state normal secretary Kunal Ghosh puzzled why saffron social gathering leaders, who’ve been named in Saradha and Rose Valley rip-off, should not summoned by the central businesses.

“These central agencies are functioning arbitrarily. Whenever there is an election, they harass leaders of opposition parties. As there is a Lok Sabha and assembly by-poll slated, they have summoned Abhishek for questioning. But such pressure tactics would not help them win elections.”

“The BJP has turned into a washing machine as those involved in scams go scot-free once they join the party,” Ghosh iterated.

The Diamond Harbour MP has been earlier questioned on this case by the company in September final yr for about 9 hours.

The newest ED summons in opposition to the 2 got here after the Delhi High Court on March 11 dismissed a plea by the couple difficult the company notices that requested them to seem within the nationwide capital as a substitute of Kolkata.

The company lodged the case underneath the provisions of the PMLA primarily based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage rip-off associated to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines within the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and round Asansol.

The ED had claimed that the parliamentarian was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this unlawful commerce. It has arrested two individuals on this case until now.

Reacting to the allegations levelled by the TMC, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya mentioned the Mamata Banerjee-led social gathering had the behavior of complaining each time they’re summoned by the ED and CBI.

“The CBI and ED are independent and neutral agencies; the BJP has no connection with them. If they (TMC leaders) have any complaint, they can seek legal help,” he mentioned.