Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari willy-nilly launched the BJP’s panchayat poll campaign on Trinamul MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s backyard in Diamond Harbour on Saturday, holding him responsible for virtually all the corruption in the state.

“The local MP (Abhishek) eats everything. What does he eat? He eats coal, sand, cows, and bottles of liquor.... He also eats money from school uniforms. He has sold jobs, around 50,000 of them,” Adhikari told a rally at the Lighthouse Ground in Diamond Harbour.

From the venue of the meeting, which falls under Abhishek’s constituency, to the contents of Adhikari’s 20-minute address, it was clear the BJP sought to make corruption and its alleged links with Abhishek the main poll plank in the panchayat polls.

Adhikari said South 24-Parganas, a district broadly looked after by Abhishek, has seen the most corruption and poll malpractices since 2016.

“Goons of the nephew (chief minister Mamata Banerjee is Abhishek’s aunt) have not allowed any election here since 2016. In 2018, they didn’t let anyone file nominations in any panchayat seat,” he said, adding that in the 2023 rural polls BJP will ensure its candidates file nominations.

Adhikari’s attack on Abhishek, according to BJP sources, is based on a realisation that it is tough to corner Mamata on corruption charges. “Abhishek’s flashy lifestyle, unlike that of his aunt, makes it easier to build the corruption narrative against him,” said a BJP source.

According to him, Abhishek, his wife and his sister-in-law have been interrogated multiple times by central agencies in the coal scam.

Adhikari accused Abhishek’s personal assistant of links in SSC and Primary Teachers Council recruitment scams. He promised people he would visit Diamond Harbour again this month and distribute sweets to celebrate Vijay Utsav. The vow, without clarification, was in line with his assertions that “Bengal’s biggest thief” will be arrested in December.