Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS) As the politics in West Bengal was rocked by Enforcement Directorate's (ED) raids at the Trinamool Congress' consulting firm I-PAC office and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata, the party's General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee refused to address the matter while addressing a public meeting in Malda district on Thursday.
On Thursday morning, ED officials raided the Sector-5 office of the I-PAC, the consulting firm for the state government and the Trinamool Congress, and Pratik Jain's residence on Loudon Street in Kolkata.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee first arrived at Pratik Jain's house and later at the I-PAC office.
The Chief Minister alleged that the central investigating agency looted the Trinamool Congress' election strategies and that they had seized all laptops, mobile phones and data, transferring them into their custody with the help of a forensic team.
Incidentally, I-PAC works in coordination with state administration officials as well as Abhishek Banerjee and his office.
Therefore, all eyes were on Abhishek Banerjee and what comments he make on raids over the I-PAC office or Pratik Jain's residence. However, he avoided commenting on the matter.
Sources said that the reason Abhishek Banerjee chose not to comment on the development as Thursday's raids were conducted in connection with a coal smuggling case in which the Trinamool Congress MP was previously questioned by the central investigation agency multiple times.
"The matter is sub-judice. Therefore, it is completely the prerogative of Abhishek Banerjee to address the matter or not," a Trinamool Congress source said.
However, while campaigning in Malda, Abhishek Banerjee targeted both the BJP and the Congress.
He directly named Congress MP Isha Khan Chowdhury from Maldaha Dakshin constituency and asked what has he done for migrant workers who are facing harassment and atrocities in BJP-ruled states.
Abhishek Banerjee also targeted suspended Trinamool Congress leader and MLA Humayun Kabir from Murshidabad, a district adjacent to Malda, without mentioning him by name.
At the rally in Malda, the Trinammol Congress General Secretary listened to the grievances of migrant workers.
He reiterated his accusation that in BJP-ruled states, migrant workers from West Bengal are being persecuted and called "Bangladeshis" simply for speaking Bengali.
He also alleged that migrant workers are facing similar persecution in the Congress-ruled states of Telangana and Karnataka. It was in this context that he targeted Congress MP Isha Khan Chowdhury.
He said, "Telangana and Karnataka have Congress governments! Even there, migrant workers from our state are being persecuted. How many letters has Congress MP Isha Khan Chowdhury from Maldaha Dakshin written regarding this? What steps has she taken?"
While explaining the 'difference' between the Trinamool Congress and other parties, Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the Congress without naming them directly.
He said, "Other parties lose to the BJP. But the BJP loses to the Trinamool."
Referring to the recent Bihar Assembly elections, Abhishek Banerjee added, "When people are united, the BJP crumbles. And when people are divided, the BJP wins. As seen in Bihar."
Incidentally, Mausum Noor, a member of the later Union minister A.B.A Ghani Khan Choudhury's family in Malda, recently quit the Trinamool Congress and joined the Congress and also resigned as the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP.
Abhishek Banerjee did not mention Noor's name during his visit to Malda, but he did attack the Congress, the party from which Mausum Noor had joined the Trinamool Congress and to which she has now returned.
Without directly naming Humayun Kabir, the Trinamool Congress General Secretary reminded people of his past association with the BJP.
He said, "Several parties have made deals with the BJP. You will all find out everything. In 2019, someone was a BJP candidate. Now he is building a Babri Masjid. He is fooling the people and collecting money."
Incidentally, Humayun Kabir unsuccessfully contested as a BJP candidate from the Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency in 2019.
--IANS
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