The Left and Congress leadership have questioned the timing of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to Delhi where she is likely to meet Prime Minister Nrendra Modi.
The meeting is likely to take place on Friday, sources said the Chief Minister on Thursday left for Delhi on four-day trip in the wake of the arrest of senior Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee from whose appartments the Enforcement Directorate recovered Rs 50 crore and jewellery worth more than Rs 5 crore.
"Every time there is a CBI or ED probe and her government is in problem the Chief Minister recalls central deprivation and flies out to Delhi to bring funds ... She holds closed door meetings with the PM with no secretary, no other person present... And then all those probe dies down... This time it is no different.," said CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty.
Congress' Adhir Chowdhury too spoke about an expected "setting" between Delhi and Kolkata. The PCC leaders showed how Sharada and Narada probes were slowed down after the Chief Minister's earlier visits to Delhi.
"We have no problem with her meeting with the Prime Minister because it is normal for a Chief Minister to see a Prime Minister with her demands ... But as these are abnormal times such meetings should take place before officers," a senior PCC member said.
Apart from Modi the Chief Minister is likely to meet President Draupadi Mumu, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and even Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She is also likely to meet some opposition MPs while in Delhi.
The Left-Congress criticism notwithstanding, the State BJP has refuted such allegations. "There is no question of setting... The Prime Minister is determined to weed out corruption and no amount of lobbying will work," State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said.