Jagdeep Dhankhar was seen in the photo with Amiya Vaidya. (Photo: Trinamool Congress)
In a new twist to its running battle with the West Bengal governor, the Trinamool Congress has trained its guns on him afresh with ammunition linked to the fake vaccination scam in Kolkata.
Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy on Thursday displayed two photographs at a news conference in Kolkata.
One was of the Kolkata vaccine fraudster Debanjan Deb and his bodyguard standing behind him. The bodyguard Amiya Vaidya has said he used to be a jawan in the Border Security Force or BSF. Debanjan Deb was arrested after the fake vaccine camp he used to hold in Kasba in south Kolkata was busted on June 23.
In a second photo, the fraudster's bodyguard with a very distinct handlebar moustache is seen standing in a photo of what appears to be the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata. Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife with two other women, clearly guests at the governor's residence, are in the foreground of the photo. The guard in the background, standing behind the two visitors.
Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said the link between the governor and the fraudster's bodyguard must be probed.
"When the photographs reached us, we were stunned said," Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy. "Debanjan Deb is apparently so influential that even his security guard is getting photographed with the governor?"
"This is indeed a very serious matter and to ensure that it gets the attention it deserves we will go to the special investigation team form to look into the matter and share all details so that there is a proper probe and all racketeers are brought to book," Mr Roy said.
On 23 June, Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty had raised the alarm about the fake IAS officer giving fake covid vaccines at a fraudulent camp at Kasba.
Since then, photos of the fake IAS officer have surfaced in the same frame as several Trinamool leaders. They have all denied any knowledge about the man. Among leaders photographed with the fraudster are Firhad Hakim, the outgoing mayor of Kolkata, Santanu Sen, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP as well as MLA Debashish Kumar.
Dilip Ghosh of BJP has said dismissed attempts by the Trinamool to link Raj Bhawan to the vaccine fraud.
"The TMC must realise they cannot lie like this every day and save themselves. The cat is out of the bag. These are just diversionary tactics to shift focus from fraudster's links with Trinamool," Mr Ghosh said.
Sujan Chakraborty, former CPM MLA, said that instead of raising such issues before the media every day why doesn't the Trinamool complain to the President who has appointed the governor.
Not just the vaccine fraud, the Trinamool has also claimed that Jagdeep Dhankhar, as a Minister of State at the centre, was named in the 1996 Jain Hawala case. Mr Dhankhar has denied the claim and described it as "misinformation and untruth".
Earlier, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra had tweeted about irregularities in appointments of officers on special duty by the governor and a previous record of links to the land scam in North India.