Kolkata, Oct 26 (PTI) BJP MLA Kaustav Bagchi on Monday slammed West Bengal Minister Arjun Singh for allegedly sharing a dais with an accused in the murder of a party leader in the North 24 Parganas district six years ago, triggering a political storm in the industrial belt.
Barrackpore MLA Bagchi referred to videos and pictures purportedly of the state transport minister sharing the stage with former TMC civic body chairperson Uttam Das and Prashanta Chowdhury, both of whom were allegedly named by the father of slain BJP leader Manish Shukla as accused in the crime.
Shukla was shot dead outside the BJP party office in Titagarh on October 4, 2020. CID arrested several people, including contract killers and a sharpshooter, in connection with the case.
“Some of our people are being seen with Manish Shukla’s killers. It does not look good. I am the legislator from Barrackpore and people are asking me questions. It is because of the mistakes committed by senior leaders like Arjun Singh that we face public embarrassment,” Bagchi said.
“I have no personal grudge against Arjun Singh. He is a senior leader and our guardian. But does it look good to see him in photographs with these people? I sincerely hope he will not repeat such mistakes in future,” he added.
Bagchi, a lawyer by profession, claimed he is currently taking steps to initiate fresh legal proceedings to ensure progress of the case.
The Barrackpore MLA said he has written to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the chief secretary, the CID director general and the Barrackpore police commissioner about the developments.
Alleging that the accused currently enjoyed the “protection” of a section of BJP leaders, Bagchi asserted that under no circumstances would he allow Uttam Das and Prashanta Chowdhury to join the party.
Bagchi said he had kept his head shaved for a prolonged period to register his political protest and would resort to even more drastic measures to keep the former TMC leaders out of the BJP fold.
“I will pour kerosene and set myself on fire in front of the BJP’s state headquarters, if the need arose,” he threatened.
Arjun Singh, meanwhile, refused to attach much importance to Bagchi’s allegations. “I know how to do politics,” he said.
Responding to the accusations, Uttam Das claimed his appearance alongside the minister was only due to his “personal relations” with the BJP leader.
“I have moved away from the TMC a long time ago, and I am just an individual now. I have never said I wanted to move to the BJP. I have personal relations with many BJP leaders who were earlier leaders of the TMC.
“My relations with both Arjun Singh and Kaustav Bagchi are close, and I have no idea why Bagchi is saying such things now,” he said.
Spokesperson of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC camp, Kunal Ghosh, alleged that the BJP leadership’s insistence on keeping TMC leaders away from the saffron camp is nothing more than lip service.
“The BJP will keep poaching former TMC leaders since there is a dearth of leadership in the saffron camp in Bengal. Their top leaders like Samik Bhattacharya have repeatedly claimed in public that they won’t allow entry of Trinamool leaders within their party, but have failed to keep their promise. Those statements have no value to us,” he said. PTI SMY NSD
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