After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered arms and ammunition from Sandeshkhali, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Medinipur, Agnimitra Paul said that the party is demanding to ban TMC and arrest CM Mamata Banerjee.
Hitting out at CM Banerjee, the BJP leader said, "What kind of woman and CM she (Mamata Banerjee) is that she is favouring the murderer, rapists and terrorists. They (TMC) are going to Court to save those who have taken bribes for jobs. Today bombs, RDX along with a pistol that belongs to police were recovered from the goon of Sheikh Shajahan." "Are they conspiring to blast the places like Sandeshkhali? We are demanding that the TMC be banned and Mamata Banerjee be arrested," Paul added.
During Phase 2 of polling for the Lok Sabha in the state on Friday, the CBI and the NSG bomb squads carried out raids in Sandeshkhali and the North 24 Parganas district, recovering a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the house of Abu Taleb, a relative of local TMC leader Hafzul Khan, who is alleged to be a close aide of now-expelled ruling party strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.
The ruling Trinamool Congress lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state on Saturday over the raids in Sandeshkhali by a joint team of the CBI and bomb squads of the elite National Security Guard (NSG).
In its complaint with the CEO, the TMC alleged that despite repeated representations, the state poll panel chief failed to stop central probe agencies from "throttling the campaign efforts" of various political parties.
The ruling party in the state alleged further that the CBI did not issue 'actionable notice' to the state government or the police administration before carrying out the raids.
The TMC demanded that the CEO issue "immediate guidelines/framework, whereby, political parties and their functionaries are not taken steps against by any central investigating agency, including the CBI, during the period of elections".
Voting in the state for 42 parliamentary members is set for all seven phases in the ongoing general elections that commenced on April 19 and will conclude on June 1.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won in 22 seats, while the BJP won 18 seats. Congress emerged victorious in two seats.
