Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 13 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy revealed a series of new appointments aimed at filling vacancies left by ‘defectors,’ following a high-level national working committee meeting in Kolkata. In a move to strengthen the party’s presence, Arnab Banerjee has been appointed President of the Trinamool Youth Congress, and MLA Kunal Ghosh has been handed the responsibility of leading the North Kolkata organisational district.
Meanwhile, Mosarraf Hossain has been made president of the minority cell, Saugata Roy stated.
Talking to the reporters, Saugata Roy further mentioned that “people joined on the Zoom from outside were Mahua Moitra, Biman Banerjee and others. It was a full meeting.”
Addressing the severity of the situation, senior leader Saugata Roy stated, “The main thing is, this meeting condemned the atrocities on the TMC workers who are being harassed, beaten up, and their offices burnt. So, we condemned that. We condemned that 4000 EVMs were burnt.”
TMC leader Saugata Roy further rejected the legitimacy of the ongoing probes, framing them as a deliberate attempt to intimidate the party’s leadership, describing it as a ‘political vendetta’.
He said, “Of course, this is a political vendetta. What does the BJP know except vendetta politics? They are doing it in the worst possible way…”
Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) has hit out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) after a massive fire gutted nearly 4,000 EVMs stored in a government building in Kolkata. The party has demanded a transparent investigation, questioning whether the incident was a deliberate attempt to make ‘crucial evidence vanish after tampering with Democracy.’
All India Trinamool Congress, in an official post on X, cast doubt on the timing and circumstances of the incident, terming the loss of critical electoral equipment as “mysterious.”
The post read, “MYSTERIOUSLY DESTROYED IN FIRE! 4,000 Control Units. 4,000 Ballot Units. 4,000 VVPATs. Linked to Kasba, Jadavpur, Behala East, Behala West, Metiaburuz, Satgachia and multiple assembly constituencies under Diamond Harbour sub-division.
TMC further wrote that ECI cannot keep hiding behind planted narratives, emphasising that judicial intervention had previously been sought to ensure the security of these machines.
“@ECISVEEP cannot keep hiding behind planted narratives forever. Judicial intervention was previously sought to preserve EVMs and CCTV footage. Then how can such incidents happen?” the post read.
The party further questioned the integrity of the event, asking, “Was this merely an accident…or a calculated attempt to make crucial evidence vanish after tampering with Democracy itself?
Earlier this week, Kolkata Police constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the fire incident at the South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad office near Alipore Court, officials said on Friday (June 12).
On the other hand, BJP State General Secretary Locket Chatterjee alleged that law enforcement agencies were conducting searches at the Kolkata residence of TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was carrying out searches at seven premises linked to TMC MLA Madan Mitra in connection with the municipality recruitment scam case.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee confirmed that he had received a notice from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with a speech-related case and would appear before the agency on June 14.
He further alleged that multiple cases were being filed against him after a change in government and questioned why no action had been taken against Union Home Minister Amit Shah over what he termed “provocative statements.” (ANI)