The rally by the youth wing of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) here on Monday was meant to launch a personal attack on the BJP and counter the BJP’s rally on Sunday, West Bengal president of the BJP Rahul Sinha told media persons.
BJP national president Amit Shah had addressed a public meeting in Kolkata on Sunday.
Questioning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s absence at the rally on Shahid Minar grounds at Esplanade earlier in the day, Mr. Sinha said: “None of the leaders who spoke at the rally answered any of the questions that we raised yesterday [Sunday] at our rally. Skirting real political issues, AITC leaders attempted to malign BJP leaders and comment on non-issues,” Mr. Sinha said.
Mr. Sinha’s brother, Sudip Sinha, was welcomed into the AITC by party youth wing president Abhishek Banerjee at the rally on Monday . Mr. Sinha said his brother had always been an AITC worker.
“My brother has been an active AITC worker since the party’s inception. How can he be inducted into a party of which he was already a member? This is no way shows that my family is divided along political lines. BJP leader Tathagata Ray is the brother of AITC MP Saugata Ray. Is their family divided?” Mr. Sinha questioned.
Responding to a question on the alleged mention of Mr. Shah in the red diary recovered from Sahara chief Subrata Roy, Mr. Sinha said there have been previous unsuccessful attempts to malign BJP leaders.
“Only a few words, and no names are mentioned in the diary. This is an effort of the AITC to divert attention away from the [multi-crore Ponzi] Saradha scam,” Mr. Sinha said.
AITC MPs held a demonstration outside Parliament during the day demanding a probe into the alleged links between Mr. Shah and the Sahara money laundering case.
