Chit fund scam: Mamata Banerjee shields TMC leaders

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is continuing to shield her partymen who are accused of having links with Sudipto Sen, the promoter of chit fund company Saradha Group, who is accused of duping investors.

Speaking at a rally in the outskirts of the city, Banerjee said: “We are all thieves and they [Communist Party of India — Marxist] are all saints? This is a ploy by the Congress government at the centre which is extremely vindictive. They are after us since I was the railways minister. They have tied up with CPI-M to ensure that the TMC falls. But we have faith in people. There are millions of unlawful things that have happened during their time. We are digging into their files and will put their leaders behind bars.”

“There is no use threatening us with a Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] inquiry. UPA-III won’t be coming to power. We have seen UPA-I and UPA-II. It is because of their anti-people policies that such groups have flourished. I will tell the people to overthrow the government at the Centre,” said Banerjee.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s directive to the CBI last month that the agency should be “independent and unbiased” and that it should not “take any instructions from political masters”, Banerjee said: “Look what the Supreme Court has said about the neutrality of the CBI.”

However, Banerjee’s tirade against the opposition has failed to convince her party colleagues. The CPI-M, on the other hand, has been taking strict action against any party member suspected to have had links with the Saradha Group. For instance, Ganesh De, personal assistant to former finance minister Asim Dasgupta, was expelled from the party for having links with the Saradha Group.

Damage to TMC

“The CPI-M is seen taking some action against those guilty. But till now, nothing has happened to anyone in our party seen supporting the group. A growing perception is that she is trying to defend the leaders whose names have cropped up in the crisis. If a CBI probe confirms their involvement, the damage cannot be undone by alleging injustice by the Centre,” said a TMC member of parliament on condition of anonymity.

Party insiders believe that a CBI probe could compound Banerjee’s “problems” as several TMC leaders are alleged to have had links with the Saradha Group. “We have seen how the Congress manipulates the CBI to browbeat allies and opponents. Mamata highlighted this at the rally today so that her supporters can tell people how the Centre could use the CBI against our government,” said a TMC leader.