TMC leaders are not involved in the ED probe into coal smuggling: BJP

On Saturday, the BJP said it was not connected with the Enforcement Directorate probe into allegations of coal smuggling against TMC leaders, but that the people of the state want the probe to be completed within a short period and that the truth should be revealed. In the past, BJP state spokesman Samik Bhattacharya told reporters, when investigations into any case against any TMC leader did not yield immediate results, the Left used to talk about a Didi-Modi (CM-PM) nexus.

‘If any news breaks on the probe, TMC accuses vendetta politics,’ he said in response to a question regarding reports that ED summoned Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. ‘It’s not our business (the probe). We only want the truth to come out. Any talk about the probe gathering pace or not can be commented on by the investigating agency which works independently and not under us a political party, ‘ he said.

Bhattacharya was asked to comment on Abhisek Banerjee’s criticism of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for resorting to vendetta politics after the BJP lost the West Bengal assembly election and TMC increased its outreach in Tripura, Bhattacharya said ‘He (Abhisek) has made a political point after ED summons. It is upto him to say whatever he wants to’. In response to Mamata Banerjee’s claim that she can show proof that BJP leaders are staying in luxury hotels in Asansol, he responded, ‘Why does she not if she has any proof?’ TMC’s supremo has alleged the BJP is working hand-in-hand with coal mafias and that BJP leaders have been sheltered in a luxury hotel near Asansol, which has coal mines.

Mamata Banerjee’s reservations regarding NHRC and CBI teams visiting victims of post-poll violence caused 52 BJP members to be killed in attacks by the TMC since the assembly elections ended on May 2 have not been justified, according to the BJP’s leader. ‘In previous years, the figure was around 180. The two CBI arrests in Nadia today are not related to deaths on Mars, but the murder of a BJP worker on mid-May. We are glad the NHRC and CBI are uncovering the truth about TMC attacks,’ he added.

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‘The Tripura BJP will respond to TMC’s allegations of attacks on party activists by the saffron camp in the north eastern state,’ he said. Those agencies are used by the BJP to harass the TMC spokesman and general secretary Kunal Ghosh, who said trumped up charges are being used to harass leaders like Abhishek Banerjee. BJP’s poll debacle in West Bengal and the growing influence of TMC in Tripura caused desperation and frustration. ‘NHRC and CBI reports on post-poll violence in Bengal are part of the same agenda of the Shah government in Delhi to harass the TMC, which has popular support’, he said.