Kolkata, Feb 23 (UNI) Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday spoke to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and expressed her solidarity with him after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case. During the 10-minute call, Pawar reportedly asked Banerjee how she had handled the situation after two of her ministers were arrested in connection with the Narada sting footage case. The NCP supremo also sought to know whether the West Bengal Chief Minister suspended her minister, sources said. Banerjee said a strong and united opposition must be built to counter the way the ED and the CBI are being used against opposition leaders. The TMC supremo too had faced a similar situation ahead of last year’s state elections when two ministers – Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim – as also party leader Madan Mitra were arrested bycentral investigative agencies. Banerjee had then rebuffed calls for their resignation. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) National Information and Technology Department head Amit Malviya dubbed the West Bengal Chief Minister’s call to NCP Chief Sharad Pawar as “a desperate attempt” to secure support for her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is also under the ED scanner. “Mamata Banerjee’s call to Sharad Pawar is not out of principle or solidarity. It is a desperate attempt to secure support at a later date, given her nephew is under ED scanner, not to forget the dark shadow of post-poll violence that hangs over her, who as CM, oversaw the pogrom”, Malviya wrote in his tweet. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Malik in connection with a case linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Meanwhile, the ED has filed a plea at the special PMLA court seeking Malik’s 14-day custody. On the other hand, a series of emergency meetings are also underway at the residence of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.
