The fallout of West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra’s arrest in connection with the Saradha scam spilled onto the streets of Kolkata on Saturday with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading a protest march and attacking yet again Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre for “manipulating” her party leader’s arrest. The left, fast losing its political space to the BJP in the State, also took out a parallel march demanding the immediate grilling of the Chief Minister in the scam.
The BJP counter-attacked Mamata from Delhi as well as from Bengal saying that “rattled” by the possibility that her “own involvement” could come to light, she is pressing the “panic button”.
While Mitra was sent to four-day CBI custody till December 16, Mamata rejected demands to sack the Minister.
Addressing the rally, Mamata, who had dared Modi to arrest her shortly after Mitra’s arrest, targeted the PM yet again by saying: “If image is a proof of criminal conspiracy, then the Prime Minister should be arrested for Sahara scam.”
Apparently referring to photos of Mitra sharing the dais with Saradha Group chairman Sudipto Sen, who is now cooling his heels in jail, Mamata said, “There are photos of several CPI(M) leaders with chit fund owners. There are photos of the PM with the Sahara chief. Should we demand that CBI arrest PM Narendra ModiIJ”
Though she did not name BJP observer for Bengal Siddharthnath Singh, she, nevertheless, made her target of attack clear by saying “the man who had from a rally here said bhag Mamata bhag deserves his tongue to be torn off. I would have done so but for the dignity of my chair”.
She alleged that the BJP had planned Mitra’s arrest from Delhi and warned she would take the battle to its logical end by teaching the party leadership a lesson of lifetime. Attacking the CBI for “acting like the goons of their political bosses at the Centre”, she claimed Mitra, a key party organiser and also State Sports Minister, was called as a “witness” to the CBI office and was arrested hours after following a phone call from Delhi.
The BJP responded with BJP MP Meenakshi lekhi maintaining, “If anything which is linking Mamata Banerjee with the scam, she would be investigated and interrogated by the CBI. It is for CBI to take that call and not for me to direct the CBI.” State BJP president Rahul Sinha termed her jumpy reaction a product of overpowering nervousness “anticipating the fate of many Trinamool leaders, including herself.”
left leaders, including Biman Bose, who took out a massive rally demanding immediate quizzing of Mamata, said, “We want her to be grilled now so that things are revealed at the earliest.”
They also immediately dismissed her combative move saying she was doing so to save her own skin. “Unlike Tarun Gogoi or Naveen Patnaik she cannot junk her lieutenants because they will reveal all to the CBI then,” said CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabarty, adding she is mobilising the party goons so that they do not cross over to other camps.
The Chief Minister did what her Assam and Odisha counterparts wouldn’t by literally taking sides of the accused and inciting her partymen to hit the street, block traffic and jam the court premises for hours disallowing Mitra to be produced before the designated magistrate, he said.
“She is trying to save herself because she knows that if Kunal Ghosh can give her so much trouble then Mitra can definitely give her bigger blows if he gets antagonised against her. So she has no way but to back him,” said Rahul Sinha.
For his part, Mitra, who gave ample signs of breaking down earlier than thought, made a brief pleading before the court saying how the CBI officials initially expressed satisfaction with his statements during the grilling session on Friday. “I was given tea and even told that I would be let off soon. But at the last moment some officers came to me and expressed regrets saying there were orders from Delhi that I should be arrested.” Sources said the CBI could use his custody to make him sit in front of both Ghosh and Sudipto Sen.