Centre does not want TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee to attend INDIA bloc meeting: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 13 (ANI): Ahead of the first meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc’s Coordination Committee in Delhi on Wednesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee won’t be attending as the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI do not want him to do so.
"Today we will go to the meeting. The agenda decided in the Mumbai meeting will be discussed. Everybody is going to attend the meeting except Trinamool Congress. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee is a member of this committee, he is not attending this meeting because ED and the BJP don't want him to. The central government does not want Abhishek Banerjee to reach Delhi and participate in the coordination committee meeting of INDIA,” Raut said.
The TMC leader was summoned by the ED for questioning in the school recruitment scam in West Bengal and was seen arriving at the agency’s office in Kolkata this morning.
“He got summoned by the ED today. We will keep his seat vacant and give a message about how the central agencies are torturing the members of INDIA," Raut said.
The summons to the TMC MP came weeks after the central probe agency conducted raids in the office of 'Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd' which the federal agency alleged was "used for making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees."
The ED claimed that Banerjee is the chief executive officer of the company.
Reacting to the notice by the ED, the Trinamool leader said on Sunday that the notice required him to appear before the agency on September 13, the very day when the Opposition INDIA bloc’s coordination committee is scheduled to meet in Delhi.
“FIRST meet of INDIA’s coordination comm (committee) is on 13th Sept in Delhi, where I’m a member. But @dir_ed conveniently served me a notice just now to appear before thm [them] on the VERY SAME DAY! One can’t help but marvel at the TIMIDITY & VACUOSNESS of the 56-inch chest model. #FearofINDIA,” Banerjee posted on X.
The first meeting of the coordination committee of the INDIA alliance is being held today at the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's residence in the national capital.
The Opposition alliance in its third meeting in Mumbai on September 1 had announced a 14-member coordination committee but is yet to choose a convener.
The 14-member committee includes KC Venugopal (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), TR Baalu (DMK), Hemant Soren (JMM), Sanjay Raut (SS), Tejasvi Yadav (RJD), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Raghav Chaddha (AAP), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Lallan Singh (JD(U)), D Raja (CPI), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) and one leader is from the CPI(M) that will give the name later. (ANI)