Adhir slams Mamata over ED summons to Abhishek in coal 'scam' case

In what may appear as further cracks in the Opposition bloc - INDIA - Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took pot shots at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to her nephew in connection with the coal 'scam' case.

Addressing a press conference in his native Murshidabad district in West Bengal on Wednesday, Chiwdhury took a swipe at Mamata claiming that she speaks up only when her nephew, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, is hounded or summoned by central agencies.

A member of the coordination commitee of the Opposition bloc, of which the Congress and the ruling TMC in West Bengal are a part, Abhishek appeared before the ED on Wednesday in connection with the coal case.

"Yesterday, Nussrat Jahan (TMC MP) was also summoned by the Enforcement Directorate. But Mamata Banerjee speaks up only when her nephew is summoned by central agencies. She doesn't similar empathy for other Opposition leaders when they are harassed and hounded by the ED and CBI. She only shows her hurt when it comes to Khoka Babu (Abhishek)," the Congress leader said on Wednesday.

The summons to the TMC MP came weeks after the central probe agency conducted raids in the office of 'Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd', which the federal agency alleged was "used for making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees".

The ED claimed that Banerjee is the chief executive officer of the company.

However, speaking to reporters after appearing before the ED on Wednesday, the TMC leader said he answered all the queries thrown at him to the best of his abilities.

"I have done my duty. I have came to the ED office, cooperated with the investigation, faced their questions and answered them to the best of my abilities," Abhishek told reporters on Wednesday.

"I assured them that every time they call me, I will come and cooperate with the investigation," he added.

On Mamata extending an invitation to Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe to the Bengal Global Business Summit 2023 in Kolkata, the Congress leader said a country, which is struggling to feed its own people, can't do much to lift Bengal from its economic woes.