Bengal LoP claims Lalit Jha has ties to TMC youth wing; ruling party refutes charges

Kolkata, Dec 16 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday alleged that Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, was associated with the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress.

The TMC, however, dismissed the allegation.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on Wednesday, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow-coloured smoke from canisters and raised slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

"Lalit Jha is rank and file of Trinamool Yuva," Adhikari, the BJP MLA from Nandigram, told reporters at Bagdogra airport.

Adhikari claimed that Jha's photos with various TMC leaders, including MLA and councillors and TMC Yuva leaders in the state, have come to the fore.

"He is a known face of Trinamool Congress youth wing," he alleged.

Jha and his family members, who hail from Bihar's Darbhanga, have been living in Kolkata for some decades now.

Dismissing Adhikari's allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told PTI that Jha was never associated with the ruling party in West Bengal.

"The biggest question is why were passes to the two persons who breached the Parliament security given by a BJP MP," Ghosh said.

BJP MP Pratap Simha had issued visitor passes to the two persons.

The TMC spokesperson said that the BJP was adopting diversionary tactics to turn the glare from the saffron party MP.

"It is a failure of the Union Home Ministry," he said.

The discovery of Jha's Kolkata connection sparked a political debate with West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday alleging TMC MLA Tapas Roy's association with the accused.

Majumdar posted two photographs on his social media handle, in which Jha is purportedly seen with Roy and other persons, and called for an investigation.

PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the photographs.

The TMC MLA denied knowing Jha and claimed that the BJP was trying to shift the blame. PTI