In what could stoke fears of more defections from the Trinamool Congress already hit hard by the fallout of the multi-crore Saradha scam, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday told a gathering of party leaders that she had information on who were in touch with the BJP before asking them to leave the party if they so wanted.
Speaking in a meeting of municipal chairmen, the Trinamool chief said, “I have information on those who are keeping in touch with the BJP. If they want to go to that party go now I will not resist but do not sabotage from within by lingering your stay in our party,” Banerjee said.
Her statement came a day after State Minister Manjul Krishna joined the saffron outfit along with his son Subroto Thakur, also a local Trinamool leader. In fact, BJP State president Rahul Sinha had told the media on Thursday that a bevy of Trinamool Congress leaders were waiting in the sidelines to join the saffron outfit. “There are a number of Trinamool leaders who have contacted us and are willing to come to our fold. In fact they will soon join us” Sinha said.
Banerjee’s meeting with the municipal leaders was against the backdrop of upcoming civic polls in the State. Attacking the BJP for trying to bulldoze the smaller regional parties with the help of agencies like the CBI, the Chief Minister said the people would rise up in revolt against such pressure tactic played by the Centre. “They arrested Madan and now they are trying to frame Mukul (Roy) but let me tell you that if anything happens to Mukul then lakhs of Mukuls will hit the streets against this politics of victimisation” Banerjee said.
An edgy Chief Minister also dropped her nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee’s name saying “now they will say that even Abhishek is a thief.” Curiously, Banerjee had in a meeting more than a year ago had wondered: “Is Kunal a thiefIJ Is Srinjoy a thiefIJ Is Madan a thiefIJ Is Mukul a thiefIJ Am I a thiefIJ” The first three names are currently in jail.
Meanwhile, in a related development the judicial custody of State Transport Minister Madan Mitra who was currently in jail in connection with the chit fund scam was on Friday extended for another 14 days.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate also granted a prayer from the CBI to interrogate him in jail between January 17 and 24. The CBI counsel told the court that the agency had found more evidences linking Saradha and Mitra while appealing for the extension of his judicial custody. “Evidences clearly show that he was a direct beneficiary of the scam and that he had a role to play,” the CBI counsel said.