Kolkata: Faced with a raft of cases against her party leaders, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee Monday warned central agencies and paramilitary forces of “legal action” if police officers were summoned to Delhi and action taken against them.
The TMC supremo also dared the central agencies to arrest her and vowed to trounce the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“We have corruption cases in West Bengal against the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], against the ED [Enforcement Directorate], against the BSF [Border Security Force] and the CRPF [Central Reserve Police Force]. If you call our police officers in New Delhi and do anything, then we will take legal action against the agencies,” Mamata said addressing the TMC Chhatra Parishad’s foundation day event.
In August, the ED had summoned eight IPS officers from Bengal to appear at the headquarters for questioning in the alleged coal smuggling probe. The ED and the CBI had earlier interrogated TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, his wife Rujira, and Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak in connection with their investigation into the alleged Rs 1,900 crore scam.
The ED and the CBI had also arrested two heavyweights, Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal, leaving the ruling party red-faced in the state. While the ED arrested Chatterjee in the alleged School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam, Mondal was arrested by the CBI in an alleged ‘cattle smuggling’ case.
She instructed her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to take his minor son along with him if summoned to depose before the investigating agencies in Delhi. “They have sent notice to Abhishek, his wife and, next maybe, they will call his two-year-old son. Let them see how strong he is. Take him along next time they call you,” she instructed her nephew who was on the dais.
This was the first time that both Mamata and Abhishek were addressing a rally after the arrests carried out by the central agencies.
Towards the end of her speech, Mamata switched from Bengali to Hindi to emphasize her poll resolve in the next general election. “The battle for Delhi is our final battle…to defeat the BJP. When no one will be able to put up a fight in Delhi, I promise, the TMC will oust the BJP,” she announced.
At the same Trinamool event, Abhishek had attacked Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying that the alleged coal and cattle scams is in reality the “Home Ministry scam”. “It’s central security [BSF] who is in-charge of borders. Then how was smuggling taking place? This is the Home Ministry scam,” the TMC national general secretary said.
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Oppn takes jibe
The opposition parties, meanwhile, took potshots at the TMC for its claim that the central agencies were being ‘misused’ by the central government.
Addressing a news conference later, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed the Trinamool leadership is making such comments as it had nowhere to hide its corruption.
“The Centre hasn’t defended a single central officer who has been arrested in the ongoing coal or cattle smuggling scam investigation. So, if the TMC feels its leaders are being framed, they should approach the court and prove it. If the CBI or the ED is arresting Trinamool leaders, it is because they have enough evidence,” he said.
CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty also spoke on the same line. “Mamata Banerjee claims she’s a symbol of honesty, but her image has taken a hit (after the twin arrests). Now she’s making excuses to hide her party’s corruption.”
Political analyst Sourjya Bhowmik told ThePrint that the opposition parties alleging the misuse of central agencies isn’t a new phenomenon. “Be it Congress, SP, AAP, JMM or TMC — you see these opposition parties are very vocal about central agencies actions. But this will hardly cut ice with the public as it has been used over and over again to take on the BJP,” said the writer of the book ‘Gangster State‘ which chronicles the decline of the CPI(M) in Bengal.
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Bengal-Centre fight
In November 2018, Mamata had withdrawn the ‘general consent’ to the CBI to conduct raids and investigation in the state.
The next year in February the Kolkata Police detained a CBI team which reached the then police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s residence to serve a notice in the Saradha scam. The Kolkata Police had lodged a criminal complaint against the CBI joint director following which the latter had filed a counter case.
The ED and the Kolkata Police are also caught in a similar battle. The ED has questioned Abhishek, his wife, Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak and IPS officers in the alleged coal scam probe. The Kolkata Police then launched a counter probe in an alleged leaked tape played out on a national television channel based on a complaint filed by Abhishek in April last year.
In April 2021 during the Bengal elections, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) launched a probe against the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel who allegedly firing inside a polling booth in Sitalkuchi. The CBI has now approached the High Court to take over this case.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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