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‘BJP’s only allies’: TMC’s Saugata Roy on CBI notice to Abhishek Banerjee's wife
Saugata Roy said that the BJP was using agencies like the CBI and ED to ‘intimidate and pressurise’ the TMC.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Saugata Roy on Monday said that West Bengal’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power at the Centre, was left with no allies in the poll-bound eastern state. Roy said the BJP’s only allies were the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which, he said, were being used to 'threaten and pressurise’ the TMC.
“The BJP is left with no allies. Their only allies are the CBI and ED. They are trying to use their allies to threaten, to pressurise the TMC. Whatever notice issued will be dealt with legally,” Roy told news agency ANI. He was speaking on the summons issued by the CBI to the wife and sister-in-law of party colleague and fellow Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with an alleged coal smuggling case. Abhishek is the nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Responding to the summons, the Diamond Harbour MP had tweeted on Sunday: “At 2pm today, the CBI served a notice in the name of my wife. We have full faith in the law of the land. However, if they think they can use these ploys to intimidate us, they are mistaken. We are not the ones who would ever be cowed down.”
On Monday, Banerjee's wife Rujira responded that the CBI may visit her residence on Tuesday, anytime between 11am and 3pm.
Also Read | West Bengal: Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife responds to CBI notice
In the run-up to the West Bengal assembly elections, which are likely to take place in April-May, Abhishek has been targeted by several BJP leaders, who have accused his aunt of dynastic politics. The young MP, in turn, has hit back at the BJP, pointing to several second and third-generation leaders in its own ranks.
Also Read | TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee takes dynastic politics jab at BJP national leaders
“BJP leaders are regularly accusing Mamata Banerjee and me of indulging in dynastic politics. What about them?” Abhishek said at a rally last month, mentioning BJP West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, defence minister Rajnath Singh and former TMC leader Mukul Roy, all of whose sons, he said, are lawmakers themselves.
