CEO's office seeks report from DM on detention of Abhishek's wife
Kolkata: The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought a report from the District Magistrate of North 24-Parganas in connection with the detention of Rujira Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, at Kolkata Airport on the night of March 15.
The Election Commission has asked for a report after it received several complaints in this regard. Abhishek Banerjee's lawyer has also filed a complaint with the CEO's office against BJP MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo, for making false statements regarding the issue on his Twitter handle.
Banerjee's lawyer had registered a complaint with the commission on Sunday, saying that fake news was being circulated in relation to the detention of his wife.
Supriyo allegedly took to his Twitter account to train his gun on Banerjee. The commission is looking into the complaint. It may be mentioned that some leaders from other political parties have also lodged some complaints in this regard. The commission is verifying every single complaint registered with it in this regard from different corners.
During a press conference on Sunday, Banerjee said that BJP, Congress and CPI(M) have picked up the issue only to gain some political mileage ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He also maintained that the Opposition parties, including BJP, were targeting his wife after failing to fight his party Trinamool Congress politically.
The commission has asked the DM to submit a detailed report on what happened during the entire stay of Rujira Banerjee at the airport. The commission would look into the allegations and the counter allegations in this incident.
EC officials may also try to ascertain whether the Customs officials had detained her without any valid reason or if Bengal police had actually intervened on that day.
It may be mentioned here that the commission has already served show-cause notices to BJP MP Supriyo for releasing his party's theme song and TMC leader in Birbhum Anubrata Mondal.
