Political vendetta, won’t bow to such pressure: TMC on CBI, ED action against its leaders

The coal pilferage scam is related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) mines in Kunustoria and Kajora areas of Paschim Bardhaman district. It is related to alleged illegal mining and theft of coal from the Kunustoria and Kajoria coal fields of ECL. Ghatak has been summoned by the CBI in connection with the coal pilferage case multiple times.

The TMC criticised the BJP and said the investigations against its leaders were to “fulfill political narratives”.

“The ED and CBI have been targeting TMC for the past few years. It is an act of political vendetta. It is a way to subjugate a political party when one cannot win in elections,” said TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumder.

“The most important aspect of these so-called investigations is to fulfill political narratives, rather than to arrest actual culprits. We will not bow down to such pressure. We heard what Amit Shah and Narendra Modi said during the 2021 Assembly elections. Despite that, we won. In the panchayat elections too we won with a huge margin. BJP MLAs are gradually leaving their party because of this valueless agenda of corruption. So, we know people are with us and we will defeat BJP again in the (2024) Lok Sabha elections,” Majumdar added.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders questioned the delay on part of probe agencies in wrapping up investigations in various ‘scams’ reported in Bengal.

In an apparent reference to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Congress state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The king is not being arrested. One after another ministers are being probed or arrested. However, one wonders when will the nephew be arrested?”

CPI (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “We are not bothered about who is under pressure. The CBI and ED should complete investigations. Rather than going after small leaders they should target the main culprits of these scams.”

The CBI action against Ghatak comes shortly after the probe agency had raided premises linked to TMC MLA and the party’s two councillors in connection with alleged irregularities in recruitments in state-run schools and municipalities on November 30. Earlier in October, state minister Jyoti Priya Mallick was arrested in the alleged ration distribution ‘scam’ by the ED.