I-T search on Abhishek Banerjee’s helicopter sparks furore

Abhishek Banerjee took to social media and said there were no findings after the search and “Bengal’s spirit of resistance will never waver”

The Trinamool Congress on Sunday said that its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s helicopter was raided by Income Tax officials in Kolkata’s Behala flying club and lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India alleging “executive overreach and abuse of powers” by the I-T department.

Mr. Banerjee took to social media and said there were no findings after the raids and “Bengal’s spirit of resistance will never waver”.

“Instead of removing the @NIA_India DG and SP, @ECISVEEP and @BJP4India chose to deploy minions from IT to search and raid my chopper and security personnel today, resulting in no findings,” Mr. Banerjee said on X. The Trinamool Congress alleged that the search was part of a deliberate ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to “harass and intimidate opposition candidates whom they cannot engage with politically”.

The party said the chopper was undergoing a trial run at Behala Flying Club for Mr. Banerjee’s visit to Haldia in Purba Medinipur when a team of I-T officials arrived and searched it extensively. The Trinamool Congress also added that “vendetta politics (of BJP) will not go unnoticed”.

“BJP Zamindars, sensing their imminent loss in Bengal, are shamelessly employing every agency at their disposal to suppress our GORJON. But rest assured, people will deliver a befitting reply to these Bangla-birodhis. Your VENDETTA politics will not go unnoticed,” the party posted on X . The party spokesperson also added that I-T officials misbehaved with the security of Mr. Banerjee.

In its complaint letter, Trinamool alleged that I-T searches were “with the sole objective of creating impediments for All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) at the behest of the BJP”.

Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said that the I-T searches were part of the drive to eliminate black money from election campaigns.

“Instead of creating a fuss over the I-T raid, which was aimed at ensuring a clean poll campaign, Banerjee should have quietly cooperated with the officials. Is he above the law of the country?” he said.

In another development, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a local BJP leader was caught with undocumented cash.

“In Jalpaiguri, with MCC enforced & just 5 days to go for the election, what are @BJP4Bengal local leaders up to? They were caught RED-HANDED carrying a massive, undocumented ₹9.5 lakhs cash! Bangla-Birodhi BJP, just so you know, you CANNOT buy out people’s mandate. On 4th June, your bishorjon from Bengal is inevitable!” the party said on X.

Elections to three seats in West Bengal, including Jalpaiguri, will be held on April 19.