A day after the CBI quizzed Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy on his alleged connections with the Saradha chit fund scam, party supremo Mamata Banerjee betrayed fears of a split in Bengal’s ruling outfit saying but held the BJP and the CBI responsible for such kind of eventuality if it were to happen.
Intriguingly however Banerjee’s split hints tended to get bolstered by a statement given by Roy moments before he was to join the party core committee meeting where the Chief Minister expressed her apprehensions of a break-up. The TMC general secretary said whatever the party would say was its political line and whatever he had said about the propriety of the CBI investigation was his own view.
Attacking the saffron outfit for “using the CBI as a tool to engineer political conspiracy”, Banerjee told, at a party core committee meeting that the BJP was pressuring Mukul Roy, Subhendu Adhikary (party MP from Tamluk-Nandigram) and Madan Mitra to split the party. “They are telling Subhendu to either spilt the party or go to jail. They are pressuring Madan to split the party. Though I do not know as to what was asked from Mukul I can clearly read the tension on his face. I know how the BJP is using the CBI to conspire against us and break the party,” she said adding, “I will request all not to be afraid of going to jail. If Subhendu goes to jail the party is behind him. Even I am ready to go to jail. It will give me some rest and I will be able to write some books.”
“Even a judgment delivered by a court is criticised. So, one is free to criticise anyone. But insofar as I am concerned my personal view is it is our duty to cooperate with the CBI so that the truth comes out and I will appear before the Agency 100 times if called upon to do so in the interest of the probe.”"The CBI is threatening Mukul, Subhendu and Madan saying if they do not split the party they will have to rot in jail. This is not acceptable. Politics should be done in political plain and not by hatching dirty conspiracy," Trinamool leaders quoted her as saying.
Her statements gave sufficient hints not only of an imminent split in the party but also of fears that something incriminating must have been passed off to the CBI by someone in the party that could help corner Trinamool leaders on the top. In a desperate attempt to protect the party from split the Trinamool chief also assigned additional charges to some of disgruntled leaders who had earlier spoken out against the top leadership. These leaders were former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi and Rajarhat MlA and Mukul Roy confidant Sabyasachi Dutta.
Reacting to Banerjee's statement BJP State president Rahul Sinha said the fear Banerjee was talking about was the fear of misdeeds she might have committed. "Mukul Roy and Subhendu Adhikary are not children as to be threatened by the CBI. They do not have to fear if they have committed no wrong," adding Banerjee knew that the leads given by Mukul Roy could take the CBI even to the higher leadership "so she is afraid."
His party colleague Siddharth Nath Singh went a step ahead saying "CBI should interrogate Mamata Banerjee because the probe agency can't have two different yardsticks for two people. There was a meeting between Sudipto Sen and Banerjee at Delo bungalow I Darjeeling district which was publicly admitted by Mukul Roy."
State Opposition leader and CPI(M) politburo member Suryakanto Mishra scoffed at Banerjee's apprehensions of a split saying "she is enough to split the Trinamool which does not need outsiders to break it" adding her party leaders "must have done something wrong which is why they are afraid of the CBI." Congress leader Abdul Mannan said "nothing can now save either Mamata Banerjee or her men from the inevitable."