Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday inaugurated a Sebashray health camp in Nandigram. Later, addressing the media, he said the party has “some information” related to the ED’s searches at the Kolkata office of I-PAC last week, and asserted that the matter would be pursued legally as the case unfolds.
His remarks came on a day when the Supreme Court described the ED’s allegation of “obstruction” in the probe as “very serious”, stayed the FIRs against ED officials.
Responding to the court’s directions, Banerjee said there was no difficulty in complying with the order and added that the case was still ongoing. However, he questioned the ED’s decision to approach the apex court after first moving the Calcutta High Court, suggesting that the sequence of legal steps taken by the agency needed explanation. Banerjee maintained that if any incorrect statements had been made before the courts, those aspects could be placed before the judiciary at an appropriate stage. Speaking about Sebashray in Nandigram, he said that in October last year, the maximum number of calls to the “Abhishek Helpline” had come from this Constituency.
He claimed that the absence of any Trinamool MP or MLA in the area had heightened public expectations. “We cannot turn them away,” he remarked. He announced that a model Sebashray camp would be developed in Nandigram, with plans to organise 17 more camps across two blocks on the lines of the Diamond Harbour model. Banerjee also hinted that similar camps could be held in Balurghat, the electoral constituency of BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.
After the Sebashray programme, Banerjee launched a fresh attack on the BJP and the Election Commission, calling the poll panel a “subsidiary” of the saffron party.