Abhishek to appear before CBI, mass outreach campaign suspended temporarily

Kolkata: With the CBI summoning TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to their office on Saturday morning in connection with the multi-crore recruitment scam in West Bengal, the party has accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to foil the Naba Jowar campaign.

A copy of the CBI notice was shared by Abhishek on his Twitter handle. It asked him to appear at the office of the DIG & Head of Branch, CBI, anti-corruption branch at Nizam Palace on Saturday at 11 am. The reason for the summon read: “For the purpose of examination in compliance to order dated 13.04.2023 of Hon’ble High Court of Calcutta in Soumen Nandy vs State of West Bengal & others in connection with the case ….”

Abhishek wrote on his Twitter handle: “I have received a summon from the CBI to appear before them tomorrow, on 20th May’23 for examination. Despite not being given even a day’s prior notice, I will still abide by the summon. I will give my full cooperation during the course of the investigation.” He added: “As for my #JonoSanjogYatra, it will resume again on 22nd May’23 from the same location in Bankura where I stop today. Unfazed by these events, I shall strive to serve the people of West Bengal with even greater dedication, zeal and commitment. Bring it on.”

During his roadshow in Bankura, on Friday, Abhishek chose to address the people while standing atop his vehicle. He said he received a call from his home informing him that the CBI officials had come to his residence to hand over the summon notice. He said he was expecting that he will be given at least a day or two since it will take him five hours approximately to reach Kolkata from Bankura.

He added that he had several plans for the rest of the day as part of the campaign which included a visit to the family of the TMC worker who died recently in lightning. Abhishek maintained that he would have to leave everything midway since he would need to reach Kolkata by Friday night to report to the CBI office on Saturday morning.

“My legal counsel advised me not to go since am already in the midst of a campaign but I decided to go face them once and for all. I promise the people of Bankura that I shall return here on Monday with much gusto and restart the campaign,” he assured.

Alluding to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s alleged involvement in the Narada bribery case, Abhishek questioned how come the CBI is in such a hurry in summoning him but is showing laxity when it comes to summoning people who were seen accepting bribes on television. “They could not frame in Sarada, Narada, coal smuggling, and cattle smuggling case so now they are trying their hands at framing me in SSC recruitment case,” he alleged.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said BJP is having nightmares after witnessing the turnout at Abhishek’s roadshows. “This is a conspiracy to foil the campaign. BJP is misusing CBI for political purposes. Abhishek is being dragged into this matter unnecessarily,” he opined.

The lawyers representing Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday seeking urgent hearing of the petition, but the court did not allow it.