Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 14 : Following deliberations at chairperson Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh launched a scathing attack on the dissident faction, characterising their potential alignment with the NDA as a "betrayal" of the public mandate.
Speaking to ANI while leaving the TMC supremo's residence, Ghosh said, "Those MPs were not elected as independent MPs. They were elected as the Trinamool Congress, and the voters who supported them are anti-BJP. Now, they are shifting to the NDA. This is not only a betrayal of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC but also a betrayal of each and every voter who voted for them."
Earlier in the day, Kunal Ghosh appeared before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for questioning in connection with an ongoing probe into the alleged forgery of signatures.
When questioned about his appearance at the CID headquarters at Bhawani Bhawan, Ghosh said, "They called me, and I have always cooperated with any kind of investigation. I cooperated to the best."
The investigation pertains to alleged discrepancies in signatures on a document submitted to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker for the appointment of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition (LoP).
On June 13, Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for nearly 5.5 hours in connection with a signature forgery case at Bhabani Bhawan, the agency's headquarters in Kolkata's Alipore area.
The case stems from a complaint alleging irregularities in a resolution submitted to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly regarding the appointment of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay as Deputy LoP, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip.
Abhishek informed the West Bengal Assembly Speaker on May 9 that the party had taken the decision to appoint office-bearers during a meeting of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) legislative party.
Subsequently, on May 18, the Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly wrote to Banerjee seeking submission of the minutes and resolution of the meeting, along with signatures of MLAs present during the decision-making process.
On May 20, Abhishek submitted a copy of the meeting resolution book with an attendance sheet containing the signatures of the members present in the concerned meeting, which mentioned that 70 MLAs were present at the meeting held on May 6.
On May 27, two TMC MLAs filed a complaint before the Speaker alleging that no resolution had been adopted regarding the LoP selection on May 6 and that they had only signed the meeting resolution book on May 19.
The complainants also alleged that the resolution dated May 6 was "manufactured and fabricated", with as many as 14 signatures appearing in block letters. The CID has recorded statements of 13 MLAs whose "signatures were in block letters".
The Trinamool Congress later suspended its MLAs, Sandipan Saha and Ritabrata Banerjee, for "anti-party activities."