On chit funds scam, TMC leaders must explain
The Trinamool Congress’s response to the recent arrest of its prominent leader Sudip Bandopadhyay has been unfortunate. Armed supporters of the party attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Kolkata; many BJP leaders were injured in the scuffle; and Central forces had to be brought in to control the situation. Instead of calling for restraint, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her Government could also arrest BJP leaders in retaliation (though she added it would not), while Derek O'Brien warned that the agitation could intensify further. This is clearly politics of violence. Bandopadhyay has been held by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a chit fund scam.
The probe agency arrested him after it realised that the Trinamool Congress was refusing to cooperate with the investigation. It is inappropriate in the first place for a responsible political leader to fail to cooperate in an inquiry that seeks to get to the root of a scam which has affected thousands of ordinary citizens. If Bandopadhyay is innocent — as he surely believes he is — and thinks he is being framed for political reasons, he will have ample opportunities along the legal process to demonstrate his contention. It is improper of his party to launch agitations, and that too of a violent kind, against political rivals under the claim that his opponents were misusing the CBI to fix him. The problem with the Trinamool Congress is that it sees conspiracy everywhere. Since the demonetisation decision of November 8, 2016, Mamata Banerjee thought she had smelled an opportunity to knock down Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Such is her eagerness that she has virtually tied up with her arch rival, the Congress, to put the Modi Government on the mat. Mamata Banerjee was not averse to even sharing the Opposition stage with the left leaders to this end. But the left has its own gameplan and it has stayed away.
This is not the first time that Trinamool Congress leaders, workers and supporters have taken to the streets and used force to register their protest. Past instances have been recorded enough to merit repetition here. It does appear that Mamata Banerjee's party, which came to power on the slogan of ‘change' (Poribartan) is going the same path its predecessor, the left Front, had walked brazenly for over three decades. It is being said that many undesirable elements who had backed the left during the latter's reign, had switched sides after the Trinamool Congress came to power — and having got the ruling party's patronage, continued with their activities. Strangely, while the Trinamool Congress is busy playing the victimhood card and physically attacking its opponents, it refuses to see the flare-ups that have erupted in parts of the State, such as Dhulagarh. Mamata Banerjee says “nothing” has happened! What can one say when the denial is so brazenIJ