Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the BJP over the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s latest summons to her nephew Abhishek Banerjee in a coal scam case, saying the national party may have successfully “silenced” senior politicians such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar and Congress leaders, but will not be able to do so with her Trinamool Congress.
Abhishek, the Trinamool’s national general secretary, has been summoned a second time in almost 24 hours before ED officials in Delhi. On Monday, he was grilled for almost eight hours.
The case is related to the ED’s investigation into an alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd. mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol. Registered under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the case was filed by the ED after studying a November 2020 FIR of the CBI. Abhishek and his wife Rujira are both under the scanner.
CM Mamata, who was addressing a workers’ meeting at Bhabanipur Wednesday, said, “Trinamool Congress is the only party that is fighting strongly against them (BJP). They have silenced Congress, Mulayam Singh and Sharad Pawar by scaring them with agencies. But, they are unable to do that to me. To take revenge from me, they are harassing Abhishek. Trinamool Congress will never bow down.”
The political overtones come amid Mamata preparing for the Bhabanipur bypoll, from where she seeks to be elected after losing to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram during the assembly election this May.
Striking a similarly combative tone, Abhishek Monday said, “Unlike the Congress … and other opposition parties, Trinamool Congress will not hide in fear. We will come out stronger against BJP,” speaking to the media outside the ED office in Delhi.
Mamata’s attack came on a day Congress chief Sonia Gandhi directed the party’s Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhry to not field candidates in the Bhabanipur bypoll as a ‘friendly gesture’.
The offensive could cast a shadow on the opposition’s unity as leaders of various parties in Delhi try to stitch together an alliance to counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
While Congress leaders called the remarks “uncourteous and arrogant”, Trinamool leaders in Delhi remained tightlipped, maintaining that “Didi‘s line is the party-line”.
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Jeopardising opposition unity?
Congress MP Choudhury said the Trinamool, as a party, is “devoid of political courtesy”. “How can she (Mamata) speak like that? She should remain grateful to Sonia ji for all the support she has been getting. Who is fighting against BJP if Congress is not? Congress is fighting against BJP nationally. We have governments in so many states,” he said.
“Mamata Banerjee wants to portray herself as the only leader of the Opposition. But, who is she? She is just an incidental beneficiary of the larger fight by the all opposition parties against BJP. These kinds of unwanted statements imply that she does not want the Opposition’s unity.”
Senior leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the Bengal CM is a “disruptor”.
“She is a politician, who only ‘positions’ herself during every anti-Modi movement and disrupts the Opposition’s unity. She does not have any credibility. During all such movements in the past few years, including the time of demonetisation, GST implementation and the anti-FDI movement, she tried to hijack the movement by making noise. And she just disrupts the Opposition’s unity. She comes as an agent of Nagpur (referring to the RSS headquarters) to confuse people and help BJP,” said Mohammad Salim, CPM’s politburo member.
“We have been saying for long that Trinamool is a party of criminals. She was junior coal minister in Vajpayee ji‘s cabinet, and her nephew is now allegedly dealing with coal mafias. Trinamool Congress will never allow the Opposition’s unity to work,” Salim added.
When ThePrint reached senior Trinamool leader Sougata Roy for a comment, the MP said, “I will personally not take any party’s name. But it is true that Trinamool is putting up a stronger and bolder fight than the rest.”
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, another Trinamool MP said, “Mamata Banerjee’s words are our party-line. We have nothing more to say on that.”
When it comes to coalition politics, political experts note the CM has not had a good track record.
“She wants to leverage the investigation by the CBI and ED to get a lead position in the probable coalition. Mutual respect in coalition is very important. If one of the constituents is being disrespectful to others, the Opposition unity or coalition will never stay. There is no consensus,” explained political analyst and Jadavpur University professor Partha Pratim Biswas.
“This is a reflection of Mamata Banerjee’s intolerance. She always tries to portray herself as the tigress, and demeans others. This makes the foundation of the Opposition’s unity weak,” he added.
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
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