TMC files complaint after party claims Abhishek Banerjee's helicopter raided by IT dept

In its complaint, the TMC said that Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to travel to Haldia on April 15 to celebrate the festivities of the Bengali New Year in addition to his electioneering duties.

The Trinamool Congress on Sunday filed a complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal against the Income Tax Department (IT), who the party claimed, has raided the TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's helicopter at Behala Flying Club in Kolkata. In its complaint, the TMC said that Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to travel to Haldia on April 15 to celebrate the festivities of the Bengali New Year in addition to his electioneering duties.

"Apropos to the same, a test flight was scheduled from the Behala Flying Club to Haldia. However, to undermine his efforts as a public representative and to prevent him from reaching out to the common populace during the ensuing campaign trail, the IT Department illegally conducted a search and seizure in the helicopter leased out to AITC and attempted to prevent Abhishek Bannerjee from using the same for his electioneering campaign," the complaint said. "This brazen act of executive overreach is a blatant attempt to undermine the principles of free and fair elections and to suppress the efforts of the AITC. The actions of the IT Department officials constitute a flagrant violation of the democratic rights of our party and are aimed at obstructing our participation in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections," it added.

Further, the TMC alleged that when the IT Department failed to find anything incriminating from the helicopter, they wrongfully restrained the security personnel of Abhishek Banerjee for no justifiable reason whatsoever. "Furthermore, they halted the test run of the said helicopter so that Banerjee is not in a position to carry out his political obligations. It is apposite to mention that no such action has been taken by the IT Department or any other Central department/agency against any political functionary of the BJP or associated with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)," TMC said in its complaint.

The West Bengal ruling party urged the CEO for an appropriate intervention to address the issue and a thorough investigation into the conduct of the IT Department's officials. The TMC demanded appropriate directions to the IT Department from taking any steps against AITC and its functionaries during the ensuing elections that would hinder their electioneering process.

"Issue appropriate directions to transfer the concerned officers named above, from carrying out any election-related duty during the pendency of the ensuing elections and Issue appropriate order which may be deemed fit and proper," the TMC demanded. (ANI)

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