It seems like West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s worst nightmare is about to come true, as he has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear at its Kolkata office on Saturday, May 20th, as part of the ongoing investigation into the school recruitment scam.
On Friday, Banerjee, who is presently in Paschim Bardhaman district as part of the ‘Trinamool-eh Nabajowar’ (new wave in Trinamool) mass outreach campaign, tweeted that he has received a summon from the CBI to appear on Saturday for interrogation, despite not being given even a day’s prior notice, but he has said that he will abide the summon and he will fully cooperate during the course investigation.
Banerjee has decided to return to Kolkata on Friday, after temporarily suspending his ongoing campaign for a day or two.
It has been alleged by Kuntal Ghosh, a former youth leader of the AITC, who is now suspended following his arrest by the CBI in the teacher recruitment scam, that the federal agency forced him to dispose against Banerjee.
This allegation sparked a major political upheaval, especially after Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Ganguly allowed the agency to interrogate Banerjee. According to the AITC, the CBI is allegedly working on the behest of the federally-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is also the principal opponent of its government in West Bengal.
Following Justice Ganguly’s order, Banerjee moved the Supreme Court for reprieve. The apex court transferred two cases from Justice Ganguly’s court to Justice Amrita Sinha, who allowed the CBI to proceed against Banerjee. Following this, the agency sent the notice to Banerjee.
During his road show in Bankura, Banerjee, who is also the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Bandopadhyay, challenged the CBI to arrest him.
He has also said that for the past three years, the federal agencies were trying to frame him first in the coal (pilferage scam), then in the cattle (smuggling)and now the SSC ( School service commission) recruitment scam.
