Abhishek moves HC over 'political vendetta'; Mamata says 'fighting like a tiger'

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee has launched a legal counter-offensive in the Calcutta High Court, alleging that he has been subjected to a sustained campaign of political intimidation through public speeches and multiple criminal complaints following the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election.

The fresh petition, which is expected to be heard next week, has been filed against the backdrop of the controversial 'DJ speech' case, in which Banerjee was directed to provide a voice sample to investigators.

According to the petition, Banerjee has compiled 17 speeches allegedly delivered by senior BJP leaders and campaigners during and after the Assembly election, arguing that they created an atmosphere of threat and political vendetta against him. The names said to feature in the petition include Union home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, current chief minister Suvendu Adhikari and others.

Banerjee's legal team contends that these speeches cannot be viewed in isolation but should be read alongside the succession of criminal complaints and investigations initiated against him after the change in government. The petition seeks to widen the focus beyond the voice-sample dispute and place the entire sequence of post-poll events before the high court.

According to the petition, the speeches, criminal complaints and investigations together created sustained political pressure on Banerjee rather than constituting ordinary legal scrutiny. The BJP has denied allegations of political vendetta, maintaining that all investigations are being conducted in accordance with the law.

On Wednesday, 15 July, Banerjee appeared before a Bidhannagar court and submitted his voice sample after consulting his legal team earlier in the day. While complying with the court's order, he simultaneously moved the high court to challenge what he describes as a broader pattern of political harassment.

Hours after Banerjee submitted his voice sample, TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee mounted a strong defence of her nephew during a Facebook Live interaction with party workers.

Referring to the investigations against him and his family, she said, "Today Abhishek is very bad for you. You don't remember that his wife went to the CBI with their child. He could have settled matters and got relief. If he made a mistake he overcame it because he is fighting like a tiger."

Rejecting suggestions that Banerjee had become a political liability, she added, "Abhishek Banerjee has been turned into an excuse. His family members were summoned. But he did not run away from the battlefield."

She accused the BJP of using investigative agencies and the police to target TMC leaders and workers. "Police is intimidating our MLAs and workers at the behest of BJP. They are forcing them to join the rebel camp or go to jail. Thousands of our workers are in jail. I salute them," she said.

Taking aim at leaders who have defected from the TMC, she added, "Those who have a setting are joining the BJP's washing machine. Those MLAs and MPs who have joined the setting company have done so because they are afraid."

Abhishek Banerjee's fresh petition comes against the backdrop of a highly charged Assembly election campaign during which several speeches by BJP leaders generated controversy. At one election rally, Amit Shah reportedly said those responsible for corruption would be "hung upside down".

Similarly, Adityanath triggered political debate during his campaign tour of West Bengal by invoking the use of bulldozers against what he described as "mafia raj". Addressing a rally in Nandakumar, he declared, "We want a government that crushes mafia raj with bulldozers." His campaign meetings in Nandakumar, Sonamukhi and Contai were accompanied by BJP supporters arriving with bulldozers, fuelling further controversy.

The campaign also saw the TMC accuse Biswa Sarma, Adhikari and veteran BJP leader Dilip Ghosh of making communal or provocative speeches. The BJP rejected the allegations, insisting its campaign remained within the law.

Political tensions spilled onto the streets again on Thursday, 16 July when the vehicle of rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy, who has joined the NCPI, was allegedly targeted with eggs after she attended a District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting in Suri, Birbhum.