New Delhi : In a major development ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, officials from the Income Tax Department carried out in the residence of Miraj Shah, a businessman and a close aide of Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. West Bengal will go to the polls in two phases–on April 23 ( first phase) and on April 29 (second phase).
The drama unfolded on Friday morning as the income tax officers appeared at the businessman’s home in Kolkata’s Elgin Road, a place that falls under Mamata Banerjee’s constituency, Bhabanipur, which is set to witness a high-level poll battle between Banerjee and the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari. The raid drew attention in Bengal’s political arena as Shah belongs to the team of four proposers who endorsed Banerjee’s nomination papers in Bhabanipur.
Following the raids, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumder launched a blistering attack on the alleged nexus between the BJP and the central agencies.
Speaking to India Today, Majumder said, “This has become a routine ahead of every assembly poll. They (BJP) know that they can’t win the elections and, hence, take these measures to prevent the Trinamool Congress from winning.”
SIMILAR RAIDS CARRIED OUT IN OUTGOING TMC MLA’S HOUSE
The Income Tax officials carried out a similar raid at the residence and the in-laws’ house of Debashish Kumar, the outgoing TMC MLA from the Rasbehari assembly constituency, on April 17.
The reason behind the searches is not known yet.
Earlier, Kumar was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) multiple times this month in connection with a land scam case.
He was called for questioning on April 1, 3 and 9, and had appeared before the central agency.
The ED aimed to determine whether Kumar had any financial transactions with businessman Amit Gangopadhyay, whose property was recently searched by the probe agency, per officials.
Kumar has been re-fielded by his party from the same seat for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.
