Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Tuesday that an assassination plot was made on her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee recently at the behest of the BJP.
Her startling claim came days after the Kolkata Police arrested a man, Rajaram Rege (53), from Mumbai for allegedly conducting a recce of the house of the young Trinamul Congress MP in the city with suspected ill-motive.
Referring to the leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari's threat, Ms Banerjee said at a party poll campaign rally in Birbhum, “A Gaddar (traitor) of BJP threatened to explode bombs. Let him kill me with a bomb if he is so angry.”
She pointed out, “Someone went to kill Abhishek also. But we caught him. How was the plot made? The accused did a recce of the house. A call was made on Facetime on the pretext of wishing to talk to him.”
Ms Banerjee added, “If Abhishek had given him time, the culprit would have fired at him and fled. They (BJP) want to kill or jail those who speak against them. If they are so sure of their electoral victory why are they trying to scare all?”
She also attacked the BJP over the Calcutta High Court’s order a day before. “Based on BJP’s directions, nearly 26,000 people have been asked to return their salaries of the past 8 years along with interest. How is this possible? They got jobs in 2016 but this development took place during 2024 polls.”
The CM observed, “The BJP is so anxious about the current polls that they have been making dangerous statements. I do not want to repeat those comments and pronounce the divisions further. I am sad over the words uttered by the Prime Minister and Home Minister. In the coming days, they will have to pay for this.”
