Trinamul Congress national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday vowed to put leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari behind bars using the same central agencies that were being allegedly misused by the Narendra Modi government once the BJP was ousted from power.

The Diamond Harbour MP issued the threat while he was addressing a rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore before the start of his 20km walk to Nandigram — the longest so far in his ongoing mass outreach programme. “The day the BJP loses power, I will have him incarcerated within a month. The CBI, the ED (Enforcement Directorate), which are now taking orders from the BJP, will arrest him then,” said Abhishek.

“If the judiciary acts in a non-partisan manner, he (Adhikari) will be behind bars within a month and none will be able to save him,” he added.

Nandigram is the backyard of Adhikari and Abhishek addressed a rally there also before taking a break for the night.

With thousands following him and many more watching him on the road, Abhishek took about seven hours to reach Nandigram. The procession had begun around 2pm.

Challenging Adhikari to undertake such a walk, the Trinamul leader said: “Despite the scorching heat I walked.... But I doubt if the traitor would be able to do this.”

Entering Nandigram, with a large number of supporters following him on the way, was a well-conceived plan of Trinamul to show its strength as Adhikari had defeated chief minister Mamata Banerjee there in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Adhikari had won by a margin of just 1,956 votes.

Trinamul is trying to revive its support base at Nandigram ahead of panchayat polls.

Earlier in the day, Abhishek, the nephew of the chief minister, attacked the BJP on Twitter.

“I am certain that people across India have realised the damage that @BJP4India has caused in the socio-political sphere. Later this year, we have 5 State Elections. I am sure beyond a shadow of doubt that BJP will lose in all 5 states... The end of BJP’s misrule has begun!” he tweeted.

“People’s growing support assures me that Trinamul Congress is set to outperform itself in the upcoming Panchayat Polls and beyond,” added the Diamond Harbour MP.

Trinamul and BJP supporters allegedly clashed at a number of places in the district prior to Abhishek’s journey. Trinamul alleged that banners bearing Abhishek’s pictures were torn.