Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to her non-BJP counterparts and other Opposition leaders urging them to come together and unitedly fight the saffron party.
Mamata, who has written a letter as the Trinamul Congress chairperson, called for a meeting to discuss strategies to take on the BJP and commit to the cause of a unified and principled Opposition that will make way for the "government that the country deserves".
She called on all "progressive forces" to join hands to fight the "oppressive BJP regime"."I am writing to you to express deep concern over direct attacks on this country's institutional democracy by the ruling BJP," the letter dated March 27 said.
It was shared with the media on Tuesday morning. "I urge everyone to come together for a meeting to deliberate on way forward at a place as per everyone's convenience and suitability Let us commit to the cause of a unified and principled Opposition that will make way for the government that our country deserves," she added.
Abhishek fails to appear before ED
Trinamul All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday emailed the Delhi headquarters of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), informing them that he will not be able to answer the summons of the central agency owing to personal reasons, according to sources of anandabazar.com. Meanwhile, anandabazar.com adds that Abhishek's wife Rujira has been summoned on Wednesday and her sister Neha Gambhir on Thursday.
Just last week, Abhishek confronted investigators at the ED's headquarters in Delhi. However, his wife Rujira failed to answer the summons. Abhishek-Rujira filed a case in the Supreme Court against the summons of ED. On their behalf, lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal on Monday referred the case to the Chief Justice and requested for a speedy hearing.Chief Justice NV Ramana however did not agree to hear the case on Monday. He said he would consider a speedy hearing but did not say when the hearing would take place. As a result, the summons to Abhishek was still valid at the ED headquarters in Delhi on Tuesday.
Abhishek was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its office on March 21. The 34-year-old Trinamul Congress (TMC) national general secretary entered the new office of the central probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am and left shortly before 8 pm.
He was accompanied by his security personnel and legal team. Officials said Banerjee's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was confronted with some "evidences" gathered by the investigators.
Abhishek Banerjee File Picture
His role and links with other accused in the case is being investigated, they said. The Diamond Harbour MP has been earlier questioned in this case by the agency in September last year.
Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had told reporters at the Kolkata airport on Sunday that the BJP government at the Centre was using the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its political interests as it was unable to accept the setback in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.
His wife Rujira has been summoned by the agency for questioning in the same case here on Tuesday. The ED summons against the two came after the Delhi High Court on March 11 dismissed a plea by the couple challenging the agency notices asking them to appear in the national capital instead of Kolkata.
The agency lodged the case under the PMLA based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.
Local coal operator Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case. The ED had claimed that the parliamentarian was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. It has arrested two people in this case till now.
