New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (August 28, 2021) slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that she has never come across such a 'vindictive party and government' in her political life. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief was speaking after her nephew Abhishek Banerjee was sent summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.
Mamata also accused the Narendra Modi-led government of trying to 'bulldoze the federal structure' of the country and snatching away the rights of the states.
"The BJP and the Union government can't fight us politically. The party was defeated in the assembly polls and now they are using central agencies against our leaders like Abhishek Banerjee and others. But let me tell them, they can't bulldoze or intimidate us by such threats. We will continue our fight against them," she said.
"If you (BJP) show us ED, we will also send proof against BJP leaders to the agency. A section of BJP ministers and leaders are working hand in glove with the coal mafia. They even stayed at hotels run by them during elections," Mamata Banerjee added.
Earlier in the day, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee were summoned to appear before the investigating officer of the case in the first week of September.
This is to be noted that the case was filed by the ED after studying a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol. Local state operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.
The ED had earlier claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. However, he has been denying all charges.
(With agency inputs)
