Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday signalled an intent to expose the alleged model of corruption, violence, lawlessness and voter suppression run by Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and his associates.
“Respected Bhaipo Babu, yesterday I obtained the property list from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The growth of your Leaps and Bounds (company) includes 24 properties in Calcutta,” he said, having chosen Abhishek’s political turf to address his first political rally as chief minister.
“You have a palace-like office in Amtala. What have you done? Do we not know what these goons (Jahangir Khan and others) did using the police?” he told the party workers’ meeting in Falta — an Assembly segment in Abhishek’s parliamentary constituency of Diamond Harbour — where a re-election is scheduled on May 21.
Leaps and Bounds is a private company associated with Abhishek that was allegedly involved in the teacher recruitment scam. Abhishek says the charges are politically motivated.
A source said Suvendu’s comments were a clear message that his government had begun investigating the alleged wrongdoings and corruption of the previous government, led by Mamata and Abhishek.
Suvendu has started off by suspending three IPS officers for their alleged mishandling of the RG Kar rape-murder probe, while making it clear the investigation would also examine the possible role of then chief minister Mamata.
“When investigators bring forward the call records and WhatsApp chats of police officers like Vineet Goyal, Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta, people will see how much wrong the leaders of the previous government committed and how far they stooped,” the chief minister said.
He also indicated action against any misdeeds by the police and politicians in Abhishek Banerjee’s backyard.
“I have told the Diamond Harbour police that call records and WhatsApp chats must be submitted. I will uncover who, under the direction of Bhaipo’s PA, carried out atrocities in Falta, Diamond Harbour and South 24-Parganas, and under whose instructions they acted,” Suvendu said.
Parties such as the BJP and the CPM have long alleged that Abhishek’s so-called “Diamond Harbour model” involved preventing people from voting, questioning his victory margin of 7.1 lakh votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Abhishek had won 89.09 per cent of the votes from the Falta Assembly segment in 2024, triggering allegations of rigging.
“For so many years, people here could not vote. While coming from Diamond Harbour to Falta, I had to stop at 20 places. I asked only one question: For how many years have you been unable to vote?” Suvendu said. “Everyone said they had not been able to vote ever since Bhaipo came.”
The chief minister gave an assurance that voters would this time be able to exercise their democratic rights.
Suvendu said he had not forgotten how BJP workers were “beaten” for attending his rallies or carrying out political activities. He said no one involved in atrocities against BJP workers, and the post-poll violence of 2021, would be spared.
“I have not forgotten how people were beaten up on December 3, 2023, for attending my rally. I have forgotten nothing,” he said.
“Chirodin kaharo saman nahi jai (No one’s fortunes remain the same forever). How can I forget those days? People have not just put us in the chair; people want justice.”
Suvendu said he had already instructed the police to act on all old complaints and also accept fresh complaints from those who could not lodge them under Trinamool rule.
“I have told the police to sit from tomorrow with pen and paper. Any complaint regarding atrocities committed over the last five years or earlier must be accepted,” he said.
Suvendu went on to play the majoritarian card in Falta, where Hindus are nearly 70 per cent of the population, urging them to ensure that BJP candidate Debangshu Panda won by more than 1 lakh votes.
He said the victory would not just increase the party’s strength in the Assembly but also expose Abhishek’s alleged model of rigging.
“You must ensure that Debangshu Panda wins by 1 lakh votes. The total number of voters is 2,25,000. Among them, 1,62,000 are those whose support brought us to power,” the chief minister said, without openly using the word “Hindu”.