With West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee going hammer and tong against the BJP for allowing the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud to take place under its nose the saffron outfit on Monday returned fire citing photographs that showed Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra with diamond merchant and accused Mehul Choksi in a single frame.
On the back foot for the past couple of days against the Chief Minister’s relentless attacks Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh twitted against referring to the pictures wondering what Banerjee had to say about them.
“What would Didi’s comments now be on these picturesIJ” Ghosh wondered seemingly cheering the left Front to pick the clue and take a dig at the Trinamool Congress for its “habitual penchant for fraudsters from Sharada to Narada to Diamondgate.”
CPI(M) legislature Party leader Sujan Chakrabarty referred to the BJP’s photographs saying, “how will Amit Babu react to themIJ What the so called leaders of the TMC have to say to the camaraderie and closeness that was evident between Amit Mitra and Mehul Choksi.” The pictures apparently were photographed during the Bengal Business Summit organised in Mumbai last July.
In a quick damage control exercise the pictures and the related press release were withdrawn from the Bengal Global Business Summit website even as Mitra normally known to be a Bhadrolok (gentleman) in Bengal political circles reacted saying “This is no secret (as) the information is on the Government website,” wondering “do I have a personal relationship with himIJ”
The country’s second largest public sector bank recently shot in the news for allegedly generating scores of fake louse that enabled prime accused and diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski to raise loans worth Rs 11.5 thousand crore before fleeing the country.
Meanwhile, in a sudden development anxious customers queued up before PNB branches at various locations withdrawing their deposits, sources said. Reports showed how people withdrew Rs 3 crore in four days from a branch in Nadia.
Similar reports came from Burdwan and other places sources said accusing Trinamool workers of spreading disinformation to embarrass the BJP.