Nandigram: NIA has issued notices to 43 Trinamool seniors and workers from Nandigram Block-1, summoning them to its Kolkata office on April 17 — six days before the constituency goes to polls on April 23.The notices relate to violent clashes between Trinamool and BJP supporters during Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Bank elections at Kanchan Nagar High School on Dec 8, 2024, which allegedly involved large-scale bombing outside the polling station.The NIA formally took over the case on April 1. Those summoned include zilla parishad functionary Samsul Islam,block TMC seniors Sheikh Alraji and Bappaditya Garga, and TMC regional president Shambhu Nayak.Trinamool called the move political vendetta. “Knowing their defeat in Nandigram is certain, BJP is using central agencies to intimidate our workers and weaken our booth-level organisation,” said Tamluk organisational district Trinamool president Sujit Rai.Party leaders fear that attending the summons could lead to arrests, while skipping them could result in warrants — a bind that could effectively neutralise key ground-level organisers ahead of polling day.BJP dismissed the charge. “TMC-backed miscreants attacked people with bombs during the cooperative elections. The agency is simply following legal procedures,” said district general secretary Meghnad Pal.Trinamool’s Nandigram candidate Pabitra Kar remained defiant, predicting a 30,000-vote defeat for Suvendu Adhikari regardless of central agency action.
