BJP suffers from ‘Abhishek phobia’, TMC claims as leader appears before ED

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP for allegedly manipulating central probe agencies to meet its political interests and accused it of suffering from "Abhishek phobia" in the backdrop of the ED summoning its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Banerjee, considered number 2 in the TMC, on Wednesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Kolkata for questioning in connection with its probe into the school jobs scam in West Bengal.

"The BJP has been using CBI and ED to serve its political interests. But they can't force us to surrender before them using central agencies. We have faith in the people. The BJP is suffering from Abhishek phobia as they have been unable to fight us politically," TMC MP and spokesperson Santanu Sen told PTI.

Banerjee on Sunday posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he has been notified by the central probe agency to appear before it for questioning on September 13, when the first coordination committee meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA will be held in Delhi.

He represents the TMC in the coordination committee. The party has informed the non-BJP alliance leaders that he will miss the meeting, as he has to appear before the ED on the same day in Kolkata.

Sen said, "It is shameful that the BJP has stooped so low that it has unleashed ED and the CBI to harass family members of Abhishek Banerjee also." The TMC on Tuesday criticised BJP, likening it to a "washing machine" that transforms corrupt individuals into virtuous figures upon joining the saffron party, and asserted that the recent Dhupguri by-election loss and successful meetings of the opposition INDIA had resulted in the ED summoning its national general secretary.

Reacting to TMC's claims, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dubbed its allegations of using CBI and ED to harass Banerjee as "baseless".

"Whenever the TMC leaders get summoned by the CBI or ED, they blame us (the BJP). If they have any grievances, they can move court," he said.

Earlier, the ED had sent a notice to Banerjee summoning him to appear before it on June 13 for a probe into alleged illegal appointments in government and government-sponsored primary school jobs scams in West Bengal. He then declined to comply, citing his engagements with a mass outreach campaign and the July rural polls in the state.

He had faced nine hours of questioning by CBI on May 20 in connection with its investigation into the primary school jobs scam.