Will bow down before the power of people, but not before the people in power: Abhishek

Kolkata: Acknowledging the huge support that was rendered by a mammoth crowd from all across West Bengal numbering in lakhs who congregated at Esplanade for the mega Martyrs' Day rally on Thursday, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted on Friday: "We will bow down before the power of people, but not before the people in power. #ShahidDibas #Bengal #AITC."

The tweet gains significance as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been carrying out search operations at various premises linked to the recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and West Bengal Primary Education Board. The persons being searched include TMC's Partha Chatterjee, a sitting minister in the Mamata Banerjee government and the then state Education minister. Senior ED officials arrived at the residence of Chatterjee along with central forces early morning.

Abhishek's tweet indicates that TMC will always honour the wishes of the masses and work towards the development of the people but not surrender to those in power.

Incidentally, it was learnt that a little after 3 pm, Chatterjee complained about uneasiness and breathlessness. With the help of the aides of the minister, his personal doctor was informed immediately.

Reacting to the development, state Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said several leaders and ministers of the party have faced tremendous mental pressure because of the excesses of the central agencies like the CBI and ED.

"Earlier, senior leaders like late Subrata Mukherjee, late Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandopadhyay were harassed by the central agencies. Some of them even faced untimely death because of such mental pressure. We want to caution the BJP and the Union government that if anything happens to any of our leaders because of the excesses of the central agencies, we will not remain silent and take the Centre head on," Bhattacharya said. State Transport minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said that although the Calcutta High Court ordered only CBI inquiry into the WBSSC case, the agency has unnecessarily roped in the ED to imply a money laundering angle.

"This has been done deliberately to harass

our leaders and ministers," he said.

Addressing the press, Bhattacharya and Kunal Ghosh, the state general secretary, said: "Unable to face Trinamool Congress politically, BJP is letting loose their agencies to scare our leaders. We are not going to surrender. Trinamool Congress had organised the Martyrs' Day rally on Thursday and it is not possible for any political party to host such a huge meeting. Whenever the opposition parties organise any meeting to protest against the authoritarian policies of the BJP, it sends its agencies to scare them."

She added: "It is amazing that Income Tax officials had been sent to the house of one of the relatives of Partha Chatterjee in West Midnapore."

Kunal Ghosh said the central agencies are biased as despite repeated complaints, the CBI has not yet interrogated Suvendu Adhikari. Sudipta Sen, the prime accused in the Saradha case, had alleged that he had given money to Adhikari. Sen had made a petition before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate as well. "Adhikari has not been arrested as he took shelter in the BJP. The central agencies have no impartiality and that is evident from their behaviour."