"Conspiracy ongoing between NIA and BJP to target TMC leaders": Kunal Ghosh

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Wednesday alleged that there is a conspiracy going on between the Bharatiya Janata Party and National Investigation Agency to target the TMC leaders in West Bengal.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Kunal Ghosh said, "There is a conspiracy ongoing between the NIA and BJP. The protagonist is Amit Shah. Trinamool leaders and activists are their targets?...the fight is Trinamool Congress versus Central Agencies...why the NIA officer not being transferred even after giving the evidence? Agencies are puppeteers."

Ghosh exuded confidence ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and said that the Trinamool Congress will register a victory on 30-35 seats out of 42 constituencies.

"If polls are held today, the Trinamool Congress will register victory on 30-35 seats. There is no such thing as the BJP. They have no organization. The Trinamool Congress has to fight against the ED, CBI and NIA. Amit Shah's party is not in the field," he said.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that a Bharatiya Janata Party member conducted a meeting with NIA officials and a BJP worker went to "NIA officer's house and handed over a packet to him hinting of some understanding between the BJP and NIA".

"We will definitely go (to the Supreme Court). We want to tell those who are in favour of the NIA that no meeting took place, that the BJP guy who had gone to the NIA officer's house had a packet in his hand, but when he left, he did not have the packet in hand. We will also give high-quality footage of this to the Supreme Court. Whatever he has to say, he can say it in court," he said.

He said that the BJP is frightened that it cannot defeat the opposition in the polls so it is resorting to unfair means to win the elections.

"The BJP is arresting sitting chief ministers. Himanta Biswa Sarma was involved in the Saradha scam but the ED and CBI did not even interrogate him, while the sitting CM of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, was arrested by the ED. The BJP will face a worse defeat compared to what it faced in 2021 in West Bengal," he added.

Meanwhile, categorically denying any mala fide in its recent actions in West Bengal's Bhupatinagar area, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday refuted the allegations of unlawful actions leveled against it and dismissed the entire controversy as unfortunate.

Polling for the Lok Sabha in Bengal will take place across all 7 phases, starting April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC won 34 seats in the state, while the BJP had to settle for 2 seats. The CPI (M) won 2 seats, while the Congress bagged 4. However, the BJP came up with a much-improved showing in the 2019 polls, winning 18 seats against the TMC's 22. The Congress's tally dropped to just 2 seats, while the Left scored a blank.