'Abhishek Banerjee involved in Rs 5,000 cr scams': BJP's Saumitra Khan launches all-out attack on TMC MP, says 'Bengal likely to become Kashmir'

BJP's Saumitra Khan launched a scathing attack on TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, claiming that the latter was involved in alleged scams worth Rs 5,000 crore. During his fiery speech in the Lok Sabha, the BJP MP said Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, should be interrogated and arrested. 

Khan suggested that over Rs 100 crore attached by the ED in the Leaps and Bound Pvt Ltd case belonged to Abhishek Banerjee. In August last year, the ED had raided 3 premises in Kolkata linked to accused Sujay Krishna Bhadra in the teachers recruitment scam of West Bengal. Bhadra was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, a company, the ED claimed, was used for "making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees. 

Bhadra was a director in this company from April 2012 to March 2016. Abhishek Banerjee was the CEO of Leaps and Bounds and was also a director in the company from April 2012 to January 2014, the ED said in a statement. The ED, which is probing the cash-for-jobs case, told the Calcutta High Court earlier this year that it had attached properties worth around Rs 135 crore belonging to the directors of Leaps & Bounds Pvt Ltd and had come across other assets worth Rs 10 crore.

Khan claimed that Abhishek Banerjee had committed a fraud worth Rs 5,000 crore. "He should be investigated and arrested," he said in the Lok Sabha. 

The BJP MP was not done yet. He also raised the infiltration issue, which he said would not only destroy Bengal but pose a risk to the entire country. "Every day, 5000-10,000 Rohingyas are coming to West Bengal. After arriving, they are being supplied throughout India. This is a danger to the country."

Khan also warned that what happened in Kashmir in the 1990s is likely to happen in West Bengal. "You should form a Board Committee and send it to West Bengal because West Bengal is not anyone's fiefdom."

"The Assam Chief Minister said that West Bengal should be watched. If you leave everything to the Chief Minister, what will happen to India? This is not just about West Bengal but the whole country's safety. No matter how much budget you allocate, if the chief minister takes responsibility for the entire world...what will happen? She says that anyone disturbed in their place should come to West Bengal, and we will provide them shelter. How can she say that we will give them shelter in West Bengal?" he asked referring to Banerjee's statement to Bangladeshi Muslims. 

Khan also rubbished TMC's claim that no fund was provided to West Bengal in the Budget 2024. He also said that the funds sent to Bengal for the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana are renamed as Bangla Awas Yojana and the funds sent for the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana are renamed as Bengal Road Yojana. "Rs 89,000 crores have been allocated for West Bengal in this budget," he added. 

Earlier this week, during a discussion on the budget in Lok Sabha, Abhishek Banjere said the Centre had "deprived" West Bengal and other parts of the country of various benefits, including MNERGA and housing scheme. He challenged the Centre to bring out a white paper on fund allocation to Bengal. 

"When and how much did they (BJP) give money to Bengal for 100 days work and housing scheme? If they are able to prove even for 10 paise, I will quit politics. I have said thousands of times that they should bring a white paper and say whether they have given even 10 paise to Bengal in these three financial years 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24," he said while speaking to ANI.