The Trinamool Congress continued to betray frustration post Narada expose even as the party leaders from Mamata Banerjee down the line made statements that circuitously amounted to admission of the recently telecast bribery scam.
Banerjee continued to appeal to the voters not to vote for her candidates but for her as “I am contesting from all the 294 seats” prompting the opposition to wonder whether she had full faith in the integrity of the party nominees after the Saradha scam and Narada expose.
On the other hand her star campaigners like former India soccer captain Baichung Bhutia said that “it is a practice for all the political parties to take donations. Even the Congress and the BJP have taken donation,” leading the Opposition to say that “Bhutia has roundly conceded that whatever was shown in the Narada video was true.
State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya also said that “even if we concede that the leaders were accepting money we cannot deny that all such acceptance is not a bribe. They may be donations.” However Congress leader Arunabha Ghosh said “the rule says that donation should come via cheque, must be entered in the book and shown in the income tax return. They have say whether these things were done or not.”
Senior TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi also hinted that his party MPs stung by Narada expose should “sit at home till the time they come out clean” from charges levelled against them.
Trivedi was speaking during a panel discussion, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry here in New Delhi.
However, he claimed that TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and grass-root workers , are “absolutely okay”.