File photo of TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with actor-MP Nusrat Jahan.
Credit: PTI Photo
The TMC has criticised the Enforcement Directorate's summons to party MP and actor Nusrat Jahan for questioning in a case related to alleged fraud against senior citizens, calling it a 'vindictive' move to tarnish the party's image before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, while the BJP dismissed it as baseless and questioned the TMC's 'panic reaction'.
'This is vendetta politics by the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. They are using everything they can to accuse us and other opposition parties. This summons is just another attempt to tarnish our image before elections,' TMC leader and State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said. While talking to reporters, Jahan said she 'would cooperate with the probe'.
Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari dubbed the allegations of vendetta politics as baseless.
'Whenever the ED or CBI summons TMC leaders, they discuss vendetta politics. But in reality, the TMC is neck deep in corruption, and there is not a single leader who doesn't have graft allegations against them. If they have committed no wrong, why are they afraid of ED or CBI summons,' he said.
Jahan has been asked to depose before the central agency on September 12 here for questioning in a case linked to the alleged duping of senior citizens by promising them flats in New Town on the city's eastern fringes, official sources said on Tuesday.
The ED probe pertains to a group of senior citizens recently lodging a complaint accusing a real estate company of cheating by promising them flats in New Town.
Jahan, 33, held a press conference last month and denied allegations of being involved in any fraudulent practice, saying she had resigned from the company's directorship in March 2017.
The TMC Lok Sabha MP from Basirhat had said she had taken a loan from the company and repaid it with interest in May 2017.