West Bengal: Abhishek Banerjee hits out at ‘1 per cent of judiciary’ for ordering CBI probes

Abhishek, while addressing a rally in Haldia in Purba Medinipur district, said he countered the “harassment” by central agencies by inducting two BJP MPs into the TMC.

He said, “I am ashamed to say [this]. But there is one per cent in the judiciary who are hand in glove and have a tacit understanding and are ordering CBI investigation in every case. This is just 1 per cent of the judiciary,” he said, without elaborating further.

“If anyone thinks that they will take action against me for speaking the truth, I will speak the truth 1,000 times,” he added.

The Calcutta High Court has ordered CBI investigations in a number of cases in the past few months, including the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission (SSC).

“The CBI and ED are being misused to threaten us [TMC leaders]. The Enforcement Directorate tried to harass me by calling me to Delhi twice. I decided to give them a befitting reply by inducting two BJP MPs into the party,” he claimed.

After attending a trade union conference in Haldia, which is considered a stronghold of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee targeted him during his speech without naming him. Banerjee said Medinipur has a tradition of freedom fighting and the district has produced plenty of stalwarts who “never bowed their heads.”

In an apparent reference to Suvendu, Abhishek said, “There was a person who acted as a barrier between the government and the party. I have come here to break that barrier. The person has sold his soul, the legacy and the emotion of Medinipur to protect himself from the ED and CBI. He is an ungrateful person,” Banerjee said.

He claimed, “I have every report on who all are, even now, helping that man [in an apparent reference to Suvendu] and how. We will not allow this anymore. If you are in the TMC, be in the party wholeheartedly.”

“Workers cannot be cheated or deprived. At the Charter of Demands (COD) meeting, contractors should not be present. The representation from the workers’ side should be more than 20 per cent,” said Abhishek.

He also announced, “No contractor will be nominated in the coming Haldia municipal elections.” Urging workers’ leaders to be more proactive about their (workers) demands, he said that every year, a workers’ conference should be held in Haldia.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders criticised Abhishek’s remarks on the judiciary.

State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “We have nothing to say about such irresponsible, childish remarks. We believe in democracy, parliamentary democracy. In India, everything is governed by the Constitution. The law, the administration and the judiciary have been set up to maintain it. It is disgusting to attack that judiciary.”

CPI (M) MP and lawyer Bikasharanjan Bhattacharya said, “Their [TMC leaders] masks are coming off. The judiciary is actively taking action against corruption. So the TMC has started attacking the judiciary. This is contempt of court.”

Targeting the TMC, state BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said, “Will the people of the state accept such irresponsible words? [from TMC ]”

— WITH PTI