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`Was Given Choice...`: Lone ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique Accuses TMC Of Trying To Intimidate And Buy Him
`This entire process started the day I took the Assembly`s MLA oath of office. I was given the choice between a senior or ministerial post and crores of money. They started to threaten me after I refused all of that. Even worse, they jailed me. However, I did not submit, `Siddique remarked in a conversation with a news channel.
Highlights
- Nawsad Siddique, whose nomination was backed by the Left and the Congress, was detained on January 21 at a protest in Kolkata.
- He was sentenced to 42 days in prison.
- The MLA was charged with major offenses, including IPC 307 (attempt at murder), by law enforcement.
The ISF MLA from Bhangar, Nawsad Siddique, said on Thursday that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had threatened him and offered him money and a position in the government to get him to join their party. Siddique's accusations come shortly after Congress MLA Bayron Biswas, who was elected from Sagardighi in Murshidabad three months prior, defected to Trinamool.
"This entire process started the day I took the Assembly's MLA oath of office. I was given the choice between a senior or ministerial post and crores of money. They started to threaten me after I refused all of that. Even worse, they jailed me. However, I did not submit, "Siddique remarked in a conversation with a news channel.
Siddique, whose nomination was backed by the Left and the Congress, was detained on January 21 at a protest in Kolkata, where it was alleged that ISF supporters engaged in physical altercations with police. He was sentenced to 42 days in prison. The MLA was charged with major offenses, including IPC 307 (attempt at murder), by law enforcement.
Even West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee stated that he could not see the rationale in keeping an MLA incarcerated in connection with the matter for such a long time. The TMC has frequently been charged with promoting Bengali defectors. After 2021, Trinamool will have seven BJP legislators and one congressman. Each time, allegations of Trinamool's use of coercion or money appeared.
The Left and the ISF also backed Biswas, who was accused by the opposition of switching sides for financial gain. Many people have held up Siddique as an illustration of "a true leader" who couldn't be bought or broken after his defection. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state Congress chief, and Samik Lahiri, the leader of the CPM, praised Siddique for his "boldness" on Thursday. Siddique was challenged to provide evidence by Trinamool Vice-President Jay Prakash Majumdar and State Secretary Kunal Ghosh. Majumdar responded, "Let him come up with the names of the leaders who approached him."
Siddique said that he would provide further information at a suitable time. They are free to file a lawsuit against me, he said.