Defending her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that he had continued to “fight like a tiger” despite facing investigations in multiple cases, The Hindu reported.
Abhishek Banerjee has alleged before the Calcutta High Court that multiple “unreasonable complaints” have been filed against him since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in West Bengal after defeating the TMC in the Assembly election in May.
Mamata Banerjee’s comments came on the day Abhishek Banerjee gave his voice sample in a case pertaining to allegedly inflammatory statements made by him during the Assembly election campaign.
The remarks are being seen as the former chief minister’s strongest public endorsement of Abhishek Banerjee since the TMC was hit by a rebellion following the Assembly election. Abhishek Banerjee has faced criticism from within the party, with several leaders blaming him for the electoral loss.
Nearly 60 out of the TMC’s 80 MLAs have rebelled against the party leadership to choose Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the Opposition in the House.
The group has been recognised by the Assembly speaker as the party’s legislature party in the House, and Ritabrata Banerjee has been recognised as the leader of the Opposition.
In June, TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that 20 of TMC’s Lok Sabha MPs will merge with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens’ Party and back the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Abhishek Banerjee has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to disqualify the 20 rebel MPs on the grounds of leaving the party.
On July 9, three TMC Rajya Sabha MPs who had resigned from the House joined the BJP.
On Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee said that the rebel MLAs were using Abhishek Banerjee as an excuse.
“His family members were summoned,” The Hindu quoted Mamata as saying. “Had he wanted, he could have got relief. But he did not run away from the battlefield. The way he has continued to fight, even if he has made any mistake, that should be forgiven.”
Banerjee also claimed that the rebel leaders were joining the BJP out of fear of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“The BJP is using the police to break the Trinamool,” she said. “They are using fear and threats to dismantle municipal boards.”
The TMC chief added: “Those who have a setting are joining the BJP’s washing machine. Those MLAs and MPs who have joined the ‘setting company’ have done so because they are afraid. Don’t lie. You are free to go if you want. Go, join the BJP’s washing machine.”
Hours before Mamata Banerjee’s statement, MLA Madan Mitra, considered one of her closest loyalists, quit the TMC, alleging that the party leadership was focused on promoting Abhishek Banerjee instead of strengthening the organisation.
Mitra’s resignation came a day after his wife and two sons were issued summons by the ED in a municipal recruitment scam case.
Edited by Sneha.
Also read: Why the Trinamool Congress is collapsing like a house of cards
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