Security personnel outside West Bengal Forest Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick’s residence in Kolkata during the ED search on October 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday decried Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches on the properties of State’s Minister Jyotipriya Mullick and summons to Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, describing them as a “dirty political game” of the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP).
The ED conducted raids at eight properties of Mr. Mullick, the State’s Forest Minister. The searches were held in connection with alleged irregularities in ration distribution and the ongoing investigation into the school job scam.
In another development, the ED on Thursday issued summons to Vaibhav Gehlot in a foreign exchange violation case.
Calling the BJP leadership to fight its political opponents politically, Ms. Banerjee said, ”Ashok Gehlot is not from my party but why are you raiding his son’s house before elections? They want to raid everyone’s house before elections.”
She said Mr. Mullick is unwell and suffering from diabetes. “I will lodge an FIR against the ED and the BJP if anything happens to him during the raids,” the Trinamool Congress chairperson said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a press conference on October 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
DEBASISH BHADURI
The Chief Minister said that the ruling BJP government should not be guided by vindictive agenda .“If they raid the house of every Minister.. then what is left of the [State] government?” She said she will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that cooperative federalism is not destroyed.
The Chief Minister also referred to searches on the premises of Ministers Firhad Hakim and Rathin Ghosh just ahead of Durga Puja.
Speaking to mediapersons at her residence at Kalighat after a gap of almost a month, Ms. Banerjee raised a host of issues, including the alleged attempts by the BJP government at the Centre to change the country’s name to Bharat.
The Trinamool Congress is part of Opposition bloc INDIA (Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance). “If the Opposition alliance were to incorporate ‘Bharat’ into its name, would the BJP once more consider changing the name of the entire country?” the Chief Minister said, adding that Bharat is included in the tagline of INDIA alliance, which says “Jitega Bharat”.
The Centre’s use of their probe agencies was a “deplorable tactic to crush dissent”, she said and took a swipe at BJP’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (all together, development for all). The reality of the BJP is ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Satyanash” (all together, everybody’s ruin), she added.
The Chief Minister was largely confined to her residence in a month due to a knee injury. She will participate in the Durga Puja Carnival on Friday.