New Delhi, May 19 BJP leaders on Tuesday defended the notices served by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party's Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, over a number of properties reportedly owned or co-owned by him.
The KMC, which still has the current and four-time Trinamool Congress legislator, Firhad Hakim, as its Mayor, has served notices under Section 400(1) of the KMC Act 1980.
It allows owners of allegedly illegal constructions an opportunity to appear before civic authorities and present their case.
Reacting on the KMC notice to Abhishek Banerjee, BJP leader Debjit Sarkar told IANS that the law should be equal for everyone, whether it is a common man or some political party leader or corporator.
"He made those properties by exploiting the people of West Bengal so justice should be served. This is the demand of the people here," he alleged.
Union Minister of State and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar said: "The government has changed in West Bengal post the elections. Now everything will happen legally."
"If any illegal construction has taken place...being a political leader, he (Banerjee) should not have done so," Majumdar told reporters.
Referring to Abhishek Banerjee, he said: "Notice is issued against the owner (of properties). I am not the owner so I won't receive any notices, right?"
However, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant called the KMC's probe against the Trinamool Congress MP as "vindictive politics" of the BJP.
"Their 'Bulldozer raj' either works on minorities or on the Opposition. It is their mindset," he said.
Copies of the notices have been pasted on the walls of such properties. Two residences of the Diamond Harbour MP, one at 188A Harish Mukherjee Road and the other at nearby 121 Kalighat Road, are under the KMC scanner.
In case of the property at Harish Mukherjee Road, a notice had been served to a corporate entity Leaps & Bounds Private Limited, reportedly owned by the Banerjee-family. In case of the property at Kalighat Road, the notice had been served to Abhishek Banerjee’s mother Lata Banerjee.
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