Abhishek Banerjee reiterates 'New Trinamool' battling corruption allegations ahead of Bengal panchayat polls

Speaking at a rally in West Midnapore's Keshpur, Abhishek hinted his party, which is led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, will nominate around 70,000 candidates with clean images for the upcoming panchayat polls.

Abhishek said, "There are some leaders, I hear, who have already started claiming how they will be the candidates in the upcoming panchayat elections. Let me remind them, the block leaders won't decide on your candidature. It will be Mamata Banerjee who decides."

"This is what I mean when I mention the term, 'New Trinamool'. It is nothing but what the people want to see in Trinamool, that is ‘New Trinamool’," added the two-term Lok Sabha MP.

The second most important member of TMC on Saturday felicitated Sheikh Hosinuddin, who he claimed to have no political identity, and the ruling camp's panchayat member Manju Dolobera and her husband Abhijit Dolobera, referring to them as the kind of leaders who would be nominated as candidates.

Abhishek referred to the three as "non-corrupt" at a time two TMC top guns, Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal, are behind the bars in the teachers' recruitment scam and coal scam cases respectively.

The TMC members are also facing flak over the irregularities of the housing scheme, Awas Yojana.

Addressing a massive gathering, Abhishek has responded to the Opposition's fear of "violence" which it believes will stall the filing of nominations of the rival parties.

"I will give a phone number where the opposition parties can directly contact me if they are prevented from filing nominations. I will ensure that the Opposition files all nominations," said the TMC MP.

The 2018 panchayat polls were marred with rampant violence with around 30 percent of the total number of seats going uncontested in favour of the ruling party.