New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called upon all Opposition leaders Tuesday to come together as a “unified and principled” force and make way for a government that “our country deserves”.
Stressing on her oft-repeated grouse that the ruling BJP used central probe agencies to stifle Opposition dissent, Banerjee also accused the Centre Tuesday of “attempting to influence a certain section of the judiciary”.
In a letter to Opposition chief ministers and leaders, Banerjee said, “I have the highest regard for the judiciary. But at present, due to certain biased political interferences, people are not getting justice which is a dangerous trend in our democracy.”
“Time and again, the BJP is trying to attack the federal structure of the country by attempting to influence a certain section of the judiciary,” she wrote.
The Trinamool Congress chief reminded the Opposition, it was their “constitutional responsibility to hold the government accountable for their actions, to resist the stifling of voices of dissent”.
Banerjee asked for a meeting of all Opposition leaders “as per everyone’s convenience and suitability” to “deliberate on the way forward”.
“The need of the hour is for all progressive forces in this country to come together and fight the oppressive force,” she wrote.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is at present probing several cases of corruption against Trinamool leaders. Last week, it began a probe into eight grisly deaths in the village Bogtui in Rampurhat, Birbhum where the victims were burnt alive.
The BJP, which is the main Opposition in West Bengal, has alleged that Trinamool men carried out this act of vengeance after a local leader was killed in a bomb attack.
Banerjee began Tuesday’s letter by expressing “deep concern over the direct attacks on this country’s institutional democracy by the ruling BJP”. She said central agencies like the CBI, ED, Central Vigilance Commission and the Income Tax department were being used “to target, harass and corner political opponents across the country for vendetta”.
“During the recently-concluded Winter Session, Parliament bulldozed through the Delhi Special Police (Amendment) Bill 2021 as well as the CVC (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the midst of an Opposition walkout. These laws enable the Centre to extend the tenure of the directors of ED and CBI up to five years in blatant violation of a previous Supreme Court judgement,” she said in her letter.
The Opposition should resist the “misuse of these central agencies”, she urged. “Central agencies are jolted to action just when the elections are around the corner. It is amply clear that the BJP-ruled states get a free pass from these agencies to paint a rosy picture of their hollow governance… will not tolerate the vindictive politics of the BJP that has led to a witch-hunt,” she said.
Banerjee added: “In our democratic system, judiciary, media and public are important pillars. If any part is disrupted, the system collapses.”
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