"One of the Gaddars...": Mamata claims BJP leader tried to assassinate nephew Abhishek

Birbhum (West Bengal) [India], April 24 : In a sensational charge at the principal Opposition party in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed a BJP leader wanted to kill her nephew and the general secretary of the ruling Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee.
"One of the Gaddars (TMC turncoats) in the BJP said they would lob an explosive. If you hold a grudge against me, bomb me all you want. But you tried to kill Abhishek. However, we came to know of it in advance," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said at a public meeting at Birbhum.
Earlier, the Kolkata Police on Monday claimed to have apprehended a person associated with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, who was reportedly conducting surveillance of the residence and office of Abhishek Banerjee.
The TMC supremo further claimed that the BJP would have shot her nephew if the latter had given them an appointment.
"They (BJP) even conducted a recce at his house, called him, asking for an appointment. Had Abhishek given him time, he would have shot and fled," Mamata said.
Questioning why the BJP had to threaten the lives of leaders in the ruling party if it was so confident of victory in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, she added, "These people want to kill everyone or put them behind bars who speak against them. If you were confident that you would win with people's votes, then what was the need to terrorise people?" the Chief Minister asked.
After polling was conducted for three North Bengal seats in the opening phase, Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj are set to go to polls in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 26, Friday.
Voting for the remaining constituencies of West Bengal will be held on May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
Though still a part of the Opposition bloc--INDIA, the TMC chose to go it alone in Bengal and announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state from a show of strength at Brigade Parade Grounds of Kolkata earlier.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC took the lion's share of the electoral spoils in the state, at 34, while the BJP had to be content with just 2 seats. The CPI(M) and the Congress won 2 and 4 seats, respectively.
However, in a poll stunner that few saw coming, the BJP turned the tables on the ruling TMC in the 2019 polls, winning to 18 seats. The ruling party in the state saw its tally reduced to 22. The Congress fared a lowly third in the tally with just 2 seats while the Left Front was down to just a lone seat.
With Mamata's TMC facing public scrutiny after a string of arrests of its top leaders and ministers in connection with the primary teachers' recruitment scam, the alleged horrific abuse of women in Sandeshkhali and attacks on central agencies, the BJP senses a chance to emerge as the largest single party in the state in the Lok Sabha elections this year and get a stronger foothold in the state going into the 2026 Assembly elections.