Trinamul exposes BJP’s links with coal mafia

West Bengal minister for commerce, industries, child and women welfare, Dr Sashi Panja, today accused the BJP of double standards regarding the coal mafia in the state. Speaking at a press conference at the Trinamul Congress office in Kolkata, she criticised the BJP for appointing alleged coal mafia Joydeb Khan as a permanent invited member of the Asansol South region, producing photocopies of his appointment as evidence.

“We have seen that Joydeb Khan of Andal, West Burdwan district, joined the BJP before the 2021 Assembly election along with the late coal mafia Raju Jha of Durgapur. There are pictures of him receiving Union home minister Amit Shah at KNI Airport in Andal, and also with then Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi at a luxury hotel in Durgapur during his ECL visit. These prove his strong links with top BJP leaders,” she alleged.

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Meanwhile, Burdwan district TMC president and Pandaveswar MLA Narendra Nath Chakraborty, along with Jamuria MLA Hare Ram Singh, also addressed a press conference on the same issue, accusing BJP’s central leadership of collusion with coal mafias.

“We are not concerned about which coal mafia has joined the BJP, nor will his inclusion trouble us in the election. But we must expose the BJP’s hypocrisy. They use central agencies to suppress opposition parties while conniving with coal mafias. The CISF, under the Union home ministry, is supposed to guard ECL coal mines. How can coal be stolen from their jurisdiction without their passive support?” Chakraborty alleged.

Hare Ram Singh also displayed photographs of Joydeb Khan receiving Amit Shah at Andal airport and meeting Pralhad Joshi and local BJP MLA Lakhsman Ghorui at a Durgapur hotel. At the time, TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had posted the same images on his official X handle, raising questions about BJP’s links.

The Trinamul attack on Joydeb Khan and the alleged nexus between coal mafias and BJP leadership coincided with an Enforcement Directorate raid on the house of SI Manoranjan Mondal, former Officer-in-Charge of Barabani police station. Mondal was summoned to appear for interrogation in Kolkata on 13 March.

ED officials, accompanied by CRPF personnel, raided Mondal’s residence in City Centre, Durgapur, for five and a half hours, seizing important documents and a printer before leaving. Mondal has evaded ED summons on three previous occasions.