Former Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy on Monday launched a veiled attack on Mamata Banerjee for delaying her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying there was no place for vanity in a federal system and that it was the duty of a State Government which had the mandate of the people to petition the Centre for its dues.
Roy’s statement to the media came on the same day when Banerjee met the Prime Minister with a request for economic package for Bengal and scaling down its debt burden.
“In a federal system a State has to maintain good chemistry with the Centre and petition it for its rightful demands. It is a welcome move on the part of the Chief Minister to meet the Prime Minister with the request for reducing the debt burden on the State which the Trinamool Government inherited from the previous Governments. But then the meeting should have taken place even earlier. It was not wise on our part to delay this meeting by eight months,” Roy said, adding, “However it is better late than never.”
He added his duty as an MP was to raise the issues that related to Bengal and would continue to do so “as long as I am an MP or even after I am not.” When asked to comment on whether he had been assigned any responsibility by his party ahead of the coming civic elections he came out with a dodging answer saying “I am an MP of the Upper House of Parliament who won on Trinamool Congress ticket.”
In the aftermath of the CBI interrogations in the Saradha chit fund and with reports that Roy had revealed it all to the investigating agency the two leaders had fall apart to almost a point of no return with Banerjee who is also Trinamool president removing her once Man Friday from all the vital party posts.
The former Railway Minister who on Monday left for Delhi by train along with two rebel Trinamool MlAs one of whom Swapan Ghosh had openly rebelled against the party demanding an investigation in Rs 6 crore scam at Siuri municipality earlier said that a “lot of crocodile’s tears were shed on the minorities’ development in Bengal but hardly a thing has been done till now.”
Roy said so during his visit to one of the most influential Muslim religious leaders in Bengal Twaha Siddiqi with whom he spent quite some time. “lot of people promised a railway line between Howrah and Furfura Sharief. Even Mamata Banerjee and I as Railway Minister promised so but failed to do anything. But I think it is necessary to take up the cause” he maintained.
Incidentally Roy’s acerbic remarks came on a day when one of his close associates and vice president of Trinamool Congress’ Darjeeling district committee Harisadhan Ghosh left the party complaining lack of democracy in the organisation.
“It is difficult to stay in a party which has humiliated a leader like Mukul Roy who has sacrificed everything for the party” Ghosh said, adding Bengal had a Government ruled by a party which was trying to save the accused in the Saradha chit fund scam where millions of people had lost their savings.