Senior TMC leader and West Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim, who was recently threatened by BJP leaders with arrest by central agencies, Friday hit out at the saffron party saying he is not afraid of going to jail and will continue to fight against the anti-people policies of the Centre. Hakim, who is also the Calcutta Mayor, claimed that BJP and the central investigating agencies are trying to tarnish the TMC leaders' images by making "false allegations".
"Recently BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said I am next in line (to be arrested). He might have turned an astrologer, but I would like to know for which case I would be arrested and not a false case. I am not afraid of going to jail and I condemn these deliberate attempts by the BJP, CBI and ED to malign the characters and images of TMC leaders in the eyes of the people," Hakim said.
His comments came in the backdrop of a recent statement by Majumder that it will be Hakim's turn next to be arrested after Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal, who have been apprehended by the ED and CBI.
"After their arrest Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal are being repeatedly taken to hospitals as they are falling sick. I think they need Hakim (traditionally meaning a doctor) inside the jail. So the next in line might be Hakim," Majumdar said on Thursday.
Reacting to the comment, Hakim wondered whether being an activist of an opposition party is a crime.
"The BJP choose to raise or ignore allegations of corruption against politicians with an eye on political convenience. I have committed no wrong. Had I joined BJP like Suvendu Adhikari, I would have turned into a sage for the saffron camp. Just because I am a soldier of the TMC, I am being harassed and maligned," he said.
"But such tactics won't stop me from protesting against the Centre's policies," he added.
CBI arrested TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal from Bolpur on August 11 for allegedly not cooperating in its probe into the cattle smuggling case. Partha Chatterjee, the now suspended senior TMC leader, and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested on July 23 by the ED in connection with the school recruitment scam.
