'Who has time to kill him?' BJP-TMC spar after attack on Abhishek Banerjee's house

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday alleged that his residence was attacked by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers around 2 am, accusing the Kolkata Police of failing to prevent the incident.He also claimed that it was the seventh attempt on his life in the past six months and accused the judiciary of turning a blind eye to the alleged attacks.The BJP hit back at Banerjee over his allegations, with West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh dismissing them as an attempt to mislead people. Questioning who would want to kill the TMC leader, Ghosh said, "This is the first time we’ve seen a politician’s birthday being celebrated on the footpath. If someone creates a disturbance, there is bound to be a backlash. Besides, who has the time to kill Abhishek Banerjee? There is nothing left for them to say or do, so they are attempting to mislead people by bringing up this issue."In a post on social media platform X, Banerjee alleged that the attack took place shortly after he released a video showing unidentified individuals conducting reconnaissance of his office and residence."After I released the recce video this morning, my house was attacked just now, at 2 AM by BJP goons, right under the watch of the Kolkata police," he said.The TMC leader also criticised the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court over their alleged inaction, saying, "Thank you, Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court of India, for remaining mute spectators while all this unfolds. I will upload the videos shortly."In a subsequent post, Banerjee shared footage of the alleged attack and accused BJP workers of targeting his residence after conducting reconnaissance for two days. He also alleged that neither the police nor the judiciary had taken action despite repeated threats to his life."After two days of continuous recce, this is how BJP hooligans attacked my house at 2 AM today. Watch the footage and see for yourself. If this is what can happen to an elected Member of Parliament, imagine the plight of the common man in WB.This is the seventh attempt on my life in the last six months. Yet, there has been no police action and no judicial intervention. Hooligans are running riot across the state because the judiciary continues to turn a blind eye.Thank you, Milords, for remaining mute spectators!" he said.The allegations followed Banerjee's claims on Friday that unidentified individuals had been monitoring his office and residence for the past two days. He alleged that the individuals identified themselves as police personnel when confronted."For the past two days, a few unidentified individuals have been conducting reconnaissance of my office and residence. The registration number of their motorcycle is mentioned below. When confronted, they claimed to be police personnel," he said.Questioning the alleged surveillance, Banerjee asked who had authorised the state police to monitor the premises of an elected Member of Parliament and for what purpose."Why is the State Police allegedly spying on and snooping around the office and residence of an elected Member of Parliament? Who authorised this surveillance and for what purpose?" he asked.Describing the alleged surveillance as a suspected conspiracy, Banerjee called for an immediate and thorough investigation and urged the Lok Sabha Speaker, Kolkata Police, Union Home Ministry and West Bengal Police to identify those involved and establish who had ordered the operation."I am immediately drawing the attention of the Hon’ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha @ombirlakota, @kolkata_police, @HMOIndia @WBPolice to this extremely serious matter. I demand an immediate and thorough inquiry to establish the identity of these individuals, who sent them and to uncover the nefarious motive behind this suspected conspiracy," he said.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.