‘Old method of BJP’: Trinamool’s Kirti Azad on raids against Madan Mitra, Abhishek Banerjee

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP following raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against party leader Madan Mitra and by West Bengal Police against party Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, calling it an “old method” of the ruling party.

The ED on Saturday conducted simultaneous raids and search operations at multiple locations in Kolkata and adjoining districts in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-municipalities job case in West Bengal. Among the locations searched were two residences linked to Madan Mitra, the Trinamool legislator from the Kamarhati Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district.

Meanwhile, a team from West Midnapore police conducted searches at the residence of Abhishek Banerjee early on Saturday to trace his executive assistant, Sumit Roy.

Speaking to reporters, Kirti Azad said: “This is not breaking news. Opposition parties are targeted, though not even one per cent have been convicted. It is an old method of the BJP.”

Sharpening its attack on the BJP, he said: “Probably they need Madan Mitra now. They want to break Abhishek Banerjee. It shows their (BJP’s) mentality. They want to engage the media in such things so that no discussions would be held on rising prices, employment and NEET paper leak.”

The Trinamool MP further said: “West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has been asked to investigate corruption and take action against those who are guilty. But what about Suvendu Adhikari himself, who was allegedly caught taking five lakh rupees and had a CBI case against him?”

“What happened to that case? Was it ‘cleaned’ in a washing machine? And Kakoli Ghosh has also been ‘cleaned’? This is also a question, and Suvendu Adhikari should answer it,” he said.

Kirti Azad was referring to the Narada sting operation, made public in 2016, which reportedly showed a number of Trinamool Congress leaders, including Adhikari and Ghosh Dastidar, accepting bribes. The CBI had then asked for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s permission to prosecute four political leaders in the case, including Adhikari.

Adhikari was a Trinamool MP when the tapes surfaced.

IANS