Flat queries exhaust the other Abhishek, Sayani

Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee, a private firm employee with no connection to politics, along with his wife, Sayani Ghosh, a schoolteacher, is suddenly confronted with a series of questioning by police and civic authorities amid a KMC drive to realise pending property tax from the Trinamool national general secretary. The couple share their names with the Trinamool national general secretary and the Trinamool Jadavpur MP and the point of contention is the former's 2BHK flat in Sinthee.Even as civic officials listed properties, supposedly owned or co-owned by Trinamool's Abhishek, to send him notices on outstanding property tax and violation of building plans, they came across the address, 19B, 7 Tanks Lane, Kolkata-30, registered as co-owned by one Abhishek Banerjee and Sayani Ghosh. The social media has since been flooded with the address, claiming the home jointly belonged to the Trinamool MPs. The civic assessment department even included it on the initial list of 42 properties, purportedly owned or co-owned by MP Abhishek. The number later came down to 17."I have been defamed. My property address has been compromised. There have been a lot of speculations raised from different quarters. We are facing immense problems and so are the other residents of this building," said Abhishek (40), the private firm employee. He and his wife bought the first-floor flat in the four-storey building three years ago. The couple, along with their two children, have been living there for the past three years. The nameplate outside the flat reads ‘Abhi-Sani'. "I am still paying the EMI for my flat. This incident has turned our life topsy-turvy. I have lodged complaints at the Sinthi PS and KMC. I hope these speculations stop and we can go back to our normal life."Even on Thursday, KMC officials visited the Sinthee flat for an inspection. "The problem cropped up just because my wife and I share our names and surnames with two well-known politicians. But those who spread the information should have checked our credentials before tagging our property to their names. They should have checked our parents' names, which are different from the MPs'," Abhishek told reporters outside his flat, requesting them not to visit his home as his kids were baffled by this sudden attention. Following the revelation, Jadavpur MP Saayoni Ghosh wrote on X: "The unnecessary media trial and subsequent harassment... came across as a clear case of vendetta politics carried out against the two politicians, which solely aimed at maligning both their personal and professional image."Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "Abhishek Banerjee has no connection with the properties on this list. Whatever assets he has are already declared in his election affidavit. As for the remaining part where vindictive action is being taken, we are also taking appropriate steps."