KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning in the teachers’ recruitment scam. The summons was issued just hours after the Supreme Court gave him relief in the case.
The investigation against Banerjee relates to alleged corruption in recruiting teachers. The CBI summons is likely to add to the already intense friction between opposition parties and the BJP-led centre over the alleged misuse of central agencies to target them.
According to ANI, West Bengal Chief Minister said, “We walk with democracy, we work together, that’s why we don’t speak many times, but if someone collides with us, we will be shattered. Not only me but also Arvind Kejriwal, he did the work of colliding. Is everyone clean in BJP.
#WATCH हम लोकतंत्र को लेकर चलते हैं, हम साथ में काम करते हैं इसलिए कई बार नहीं बोलते हैं लेकिन हमसे कोई टकराएगा तो चूर-चूर हो जाएगा। सिर्फ मुझे ही नहीं बल्कि अरविंद केजरीवाल से भी इन्होंने टकराने का काम किया। क्या भाजपा में सभी स्वच्छ हैं: पश्चिम बंगाल की मुख्यमंत्री ममता बनर्जी pic.twitter.com/d5DtklKwbw
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) April 17, 2023
This development comes on the heels of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being questioned by the CBI as a witness in a case of alleged corruption in framing a liquor policy. Opposition leaders had recently written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing his government of deliberately sending central agencies after them with false cases.
Banerjee is considered a rising star within the Trinamool Congress, and his summoning by the CBI is likely to have political ramifications in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress recently won a resounding victory in the state elections.
The CBI has been investigating the case since 2014, and several arrests have been made in connection with the scam. The Trinamool Congress has repeatedly denied any involvement in the scam, and Mr Banerjee has maintained his innocence.
Later, PM Modi at a CBI event told the agency not to spare anyone in fighting corruption. “The country is with you,” PM Modi had said at the event in Delhi.
However, Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested in July last year by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment scam. The ED is following the money trail in the case. Several officers of the education department and some local Trinamool leaders are also in custody in connection with the case.