Abhishek Banerjee being unnecessarily harassed, says Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that her nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee "is being harassed unnecessarily by the central agencies".

Her remarks came in the wake of fresh summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday evening asking him to be present for questioning on September 13 in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal.

"This is nothing but a reflection of a political vendetta. He is unnecessarily being harassed even as there was no proof against him in the matter. They always harass and disturb him unnecessarily. He has to run from one court to another for justice. Their only intention is to disturb the younger generation. The youths of the country will give a proper reply to them,” the chief minister said.

Speaking to the mediapersons at the state secretariat, the Trinamool Congress supremo said "this syndrome of political vendetta can come back to impact those who are resorting to such vendetta politics".

"Today, you are in power. Tomorrow you might not be in power and those in power then can use the same method against you. I heard that (former Andhra Pradesh chief minister) N. Chandrababu Naidu has been arrested. I did not like that (development)," the West Bengal CM said.

Meanwhile, she refused to divulge the contents of the confidential letter West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose had forwarded to her.

Mamata Banerjee further said she was against renaming "India" as "Bharat" without bringing about the necessary Constitutional amendments required to do so.

On Sunday evening, soon after the notice of ED was served, Abhishek Banerjee claimed that he had been deliberately summoned on September 13, since on that day, there will be the first meeting of the coordination committee of INDIA bloc in Delhi which he is supposed to attend as a member.