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Abhishek Banerjee in soup amid TMC crisis: Om Birla's 2-hour deadline, 19-hour grilling
Abhishek days lately are mostly being spent either being searched by probe agencies or appearing before them after being summoned in multiple cases.
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee was grilled for 11 hours by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in West Bengal's Kolkata on Monday in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam. At the same time, he was expected to appear before the Lok Sabha speaker on a tight deadline to put forth his side before a decision is made on the fate of TMC amid rebellion by party's MPs.
TMC is facing an existential crisis as 20 out of the total 29 Lok Sabha MPs of the party have rebelled to join the Nationalist Citizens Party of India and indicated their support for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. The current strength of TMC MPs in Lok Sabha is 28, while by-elections are due in Basirhat due to the demise of Nurul Islam.
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Lok Sabha speaker's 2-hour deadline to Abhishek?
While Abhishek was appearing before ED for questioning in alleged teacher recruitment scam on Monday, the Lok Sabha speaker's office sent him an email at 2 pm, giving him a thin two-hour deadline to meet the Speaker in Delhi by 4 pm the same day, news agency ANI reported citing TMC sources.
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Abhishek was asked to appear before the Speaker as the latter seeks to hear arguments of both sides before making a decision on rebel TMC MPs merger request, ANI reported citing sources. Led by Kakoli Ghosh, 20 rebel MPs wrote in a letter to Speaker Om Birla on Sunday that they have merged with a little-known Tripura-based party NCPI (Nationalist Citizens Party).
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An hour after the email was sent, another TMC MP, Kirti Azad, was dialled up by the Speaker's office informing about the appointment, prompting him to visit the Speaker's office himself and inform that Abhishek would not be able to make it on time as he was in the middle of an ED interrogation.
He then sought a later date and time for the meeting and reiterated that Abhishek intended to “fully cooperate” with the proceedings of the Speaker's office.
19.5-hour grilling by ED, CID
Abhishek's days lately are mostly being spent either being searched by probe agencies or appearing before them after being summoned in multiple cases. On Sunday, he was questioned by the state CID for over 8 hours in forged signature case in connection with documents submitted by TMC to West Bengal assembly speaker for appointment of LoP, which led to a rebellion by TMC MLAs.
On Monday, he was grilled by the ED for around 11 hours in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam dating back to 2023.
Following the questioning on Monday, Abhishek made explosive remarks, saying that he won't cower down even if his throat is “slit”.
"I was questioned for 8-8.30 hours yesterday and for 11 hours today. This is a 2023 case, and I have appeared before the agency 10-12 times. I won't say whether there is political pressure or not. The less it is said about the BJP, the better it is. On one side, they break our party and indulge in post-poll violence. Even if you slit my throat, I won't cower down. I will appear before the agency if they summon me even in the future," he told media.
Abhishek's probe marathon continues
Keeping up with the marathon questioning by different probe agencies in different cases, Abhishek appeared before West Bengal CID again on Tuesday, June 16, in connection with his alleged inflammatory statements while campaigning for TMC during state assembly polls.
The FIR in this case was filed over a month back following a complaint by social activist Rajib Sarkar at North 24 Parganas district's Baguiati Police Station, alleging that Abhishek made provocative statements on post-poll violence and vote counting, PTI reported citing a senior officer.
The FIR reportedly refers to the statements made by Abhishek while campaigning between April 27 and May 3.
"He (the complainant) alleged that certain remarks made during public meetings were provocative in nature and had the potential to disturb public order and communal harmony," the police officer had said.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
