Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 10 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari were involved in the coal smuggling case. She alleged that the money from the coal scam went to Union Home Minister Amit Shah through Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.
The Bengal CM also condemned TMC MPs in Delhi being detained, saying that they were "dragged mercilessly" while they protested against the ED raids and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Addressing the gathering, CM Mamata Banerjee said, "You know who is sitting in the Election Commission. He was the Cooperation Department Secretary of Amit Shah. I have no issues with that. If Gyanesh Kumar is vanishing votes, why will I stay quiet? If the voter's rights are snatched, I will snatch your rights. TMC MPs have been dragged mercilessly when they were protesting in Delhi. All the agencies have been grabbed. I challenge them that they came to power in Haryana and Bihar forcefully. In one more state, they come to power forcefully. Now they are trying to do this in Bengal. Who gets the coal scam's money? Amit Shah gets it. The money goes through Suvendu Adhikari. The money goes through BJP leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay to Suvendu Adhikari. Suvendu Adhikari sends it to Amit Shah."
She further said that she had done nothing wrong by entering the I-PAC office when the ED action was conducting a raid.
"I have done nothing wrong. You have come to kill me. I have the right to defend myself. Why did you enter like thieves. You were stealing the SIR data of all voters. You were stealing BLA-1 and BLA-2 addresses and the appeals of the common man in the I-PAC office. ED entered at 6 am, I came at 11.45 am. In 5.5 hours, you have stolen everything. I called Prateek Jain, director of I-PAC, but he did not pick up the call. Then I felt something suspicious. The same I-PAC worked with PM Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. I have given I-PAC the responsibility to see our IT cell," she further added.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha on Friday held a protest march from Rabindra Sarovar to Deshapriya Park against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her recent alleged interference in a raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Kolkata's I-PAC office.
BJP leader Locket Chatterjee, who also participated in the protest march, claimed that Banerjee interfered in the ED probe as her "life was stuck" in the I-PAC office, further condemning her remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"Yesterday will be marked as a black day in the history of West Bengal. It is a matter of shame that, being a CM, she is using such words against the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. She then alleges being humiliated by the central government. Mamata Banerjee's life was stuck in that IPAC office yesterday. This is why she was there," she stated to ANI.
A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the office of I-PAC in connection with the alleged coal smuggling case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to the streets to protest against the ED action. CM Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to come to power in West Bengal as they did in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Addressing the gathering, CM Mamata Banerjee said, "I never react, but if anyone hurts me, I never spare them. In the name of SIR, they target local people. They harassed old people and pregnant women. Those who abuse the TMC, they do not know that TMC workers are extremely dedicated. In the name of SIR, local people are being harassed. Their documents are being taken and they are not being given receipts. When the enumeration took place, Booth Level Agent-1 went door to door with BLOs. They will stay in polling stations and booths."
She further said that she had never seen any party like the BJP before, saying that the party is trying to forcefully enter .
"If you speak in Bengali, they declare you Bangladeshi. They say that there are Rohingyas present in Bengal, but where are the Rohingyas? If there are Rohingyas, why has SIR not been started in Assam? Rohingyas enter from Myanmar. First they have to cross Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. This is all being done because they are trying to come to power in Bengal as they did in Maharashtra and Haryana. They carry out vote theft through the ECI; EC cannot harm me," she added.
"For the last four years, Banglar Awaas Yojana has been closed. Mid-day meal money and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan money are also stopped. You know who is sitting in the Election Commission. The Election Commissioner was the Home Minister's Cooperation Department Secretary. If Gyanesh Kumar is vanishing votes, why will I stay quiet? If the voter's rights are snatched, I will snatch your rights. TMC MPs have been dragged mercilessly when they were protesting in Delhi. All the agencies have been grabbed," she said.
She further alleged that Bengali-speaking citizens are being attacked in BJP-ruled states.
"In Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bengalis are being attacked. Here Hindi-speaking citizens have never been attacked," she added.
Mamata Banerjee launched a protest in Kolkata against the ED on Friday.
Banerjee criticised the detention of Trinamool Congress MPs in Delhi, accusing the BJP-led central government of suppressing democratic protest and misusing law enforcement agencies.
She said dignity and respect in a democracy are non-negotiable, asserting that citizens and elected representatives cannot be treated arbitrarily by those in power. Earlier in the day, several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were detained in the national capital on Friday for protesting outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah's office against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on the I-PAC office.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) accused Banerjee of entering the residential premises of Prateek Jain, the director of top political consultancy group I-PAC, during its ongoing search operation in Kolkata and taking away "key evidence", including physical documents and electronic devices.
In a statement, the ED said that its team was conducting the search proceedings in a peaceful and professional manner until the arrival of the West Bengal Chief Minister, along with a large number of police officials.