TMC's Saket Gokhale Alleges Maha Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis Appointed New NIA DG, Calls For EC Enquiry

TMC leader Saket Gokhale alleged a deepening connection between the BJP and central agencies ahead of Lok Sabha elections after the appointment of the new director general of NIA.

TMC leader Saket Gokhale questioned the appointment of the new Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) made by the Union government on Monday. He asked if the Election Commission was consulted and demanded an investigation into the appointment. He also alleged a deepening connection between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and central agencies ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

In a post on X, Gokhale -- a Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP -- alleged that BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari met National Investigation Agency (NIA) Superintendent of Police DR Singh on March 26 and, on the same day, Sadanand Date was appointed as the new chief of the agency.

In his statement, he stated that Tiwari had allegedly met Singh with a "packet" and that the BJP leader had given him a list of TMC leaders and workers who were to be targeted.

Gokhale outlined that the new NIA director general was serving as head of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) until March 26. The home minister of Maharashtra and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Devendra Fadnavis, later nominated him for DG of NIA.

"Question is, when an officer appointed by and serving under a BJP state government in Maharashtra was suddenly appointed as director general, NIA, during the election period, did the Modi government take permission of the Election Commission?" Gokhale mentioned in his post.

On March 26, Sadanand Date—who was heading the Maharashtra ATS—was named director general of the NIA. "When the DGP (director general of police) of West Bengal was changed three times in 24 hours by the ECI (Election Commission of India), how was an officer handpicked by the Maharashtra BJP govt appointed as NIA chief without ECI approval?" Gokhale questioned.

"How astonishing is the 'co-incidence' that the BJP enters into a conspiracy with the NIA in West Bengal on the same day that the new NIA chief is appointed? This must be probed immediately by the ECI and the Modi govt must explain how a new NIA chief was appointed without ECI approval," he also said.

"The BJP's nexus with central agencies is only getting deeper during these Lok Sabha elections and these agencies are literally acting as private mafia of the BJP," he added. "The NIA conspiring with the BJP to target TMC leaders in West Bengal is not only deplorable but also raises fundamental questions on whether free and fair elections are possible," Gokhale further remarked.

TMC To Convene With Entire EC Bench In New Delhi

On Monday, a delegation of ten TMC members will convene with the entire Election Commission bench in New Delhi to voice grievances regarding the alleged "misuse" of central agencies directed towards party leaders and candidates.

The delegation will include MLA Vivek Gupta, MPs Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Dola Sen, Gokhale, Sagarika Ghose, and Derek O'Brien, the leader of the TMC's Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha.

Ahead of the elections, the TMC had claimed that the NIA and the BJP were in an "unholy alliance." Meanwhile, the central agency had refuted any malicious intent in its investigation and called the whole controversy "unfortunate." On Saturday, there were reports of a mob allegedly attacking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team while they were attempting to apprehend the primary suspects in a 2022 explosion case in West Bengal's East Midnapore district. This incident triggered a heated political debate, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting local residents.