Trinamool Congress boss and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (File).
New Delhi:
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the BJP Wednesday, accusing the ruling party of conspiring to arrest senior opposition leaders, beginning with her Delhi counterpart – the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal – ahead of state polls next month and the general election next year.
“Before next year’s elections, they (the BJP) are trying to gag the voice of all opposition parties. They are planning to arrest all opposition leaders before polls so they can vote for themselves in an empty country… they are hatching a conspiracy,” Ms Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.
Mr Kejriwal has been summoned Thursday by the Enforcement Directorate over the liquor policy case in the national capital. The ED, which reports to the Union Finance Ministry, has already arrested Mr Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, and accused the AAP of kickbacks worth Rs 338 crore.
READ | NDTV Explains: In Liquor Case, 193 Cr Profit, Kickback For AAP, Say Agencies
The AAP is braced for Mr Kejriwal’s arrest; senior leader and Delhi Minister Atishi quoted “sources” as saying the Chief Minister “will (be) arrested and put in jail (on November 2)”.
READ | ED Will Arrest Arvind Kejriwal On November 2: Atishi
Closer to home too, Ms Banerjee is fighting off attention from the ED; Bengal Minister Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested last week for alleged involvement in a ration distribution scam.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool leader also accused the BJP of hacking opposition leaders’ phones; this claim comes a day after MPs, including Mahua Moitra from Ms Banerjee’s party, said they had received messages from Apple warning of “state-sponsored attackers” trying to access their devices.
READ | “Apple Advisory In 150 Nations”: Centre On Opposition’s Hacking Attempt Charge
Ms Banerjee’s declarations, and message of support, was echoed by AAP MP Raghav Chadha, who claimed 95 per cent of cases by investigative agencies since 2014 have targeted opposition leaders.
“Now, after formation of INDIA, BJP is rattled. We have learnt from sources they have hatched a plan to target top leaders from the alliance. The first arrest will be Chief Minister Kejriwal,” he said.
The AAP leader’s “list” also included Ms Banerjee and her nephew – Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is being investigated by the ED and CBI in various cases, including the coal scam.
The AAP and the Trinamool are both part of INDIA – a 28-member bloc formed in July to unite the opposition ahead of elections this year and next.
The BJP has not, so far, reacted to either Ms Banerjee or Mr Chadha’s statements.
The opposition has routinely accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party of using investigative agencies that report to the central government – like the ED and CBI – to target rival leaders, particularly ahead of elections. The government has firmly denied these accusations.
