Wish to return ₹3,000 cr looted from poor in Bengal, attached by ED: PM Modi

PM Modi seeks legal opinion to return ₹3,000 crore "looted" from poor in West Bengal by ED. BJP aims for corruption-free India in upcoming elections.

KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the Centre is seeking legal opinion to ensure that ₹3,000 crore “looted” from the poor in West Bengal and attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is returned to them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a telephonic conversation with BJP candidate from Krishanagar Lok Sabha candidate on Wednesday. (ANI)

According to an audio clip of PM Modi’s conversation with Amrita Roy, the BJP candidate from Nadia district’s Krishnanagar, the prime minister referred to the bribe-for-job scam in the state education department that is being investigated by ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“I am seeking legal advice. ED has attached around ₹3,000 crore in Bengal. This money belongs to poor people. Some gave money to get appointed as teachers. Some paid to get a clerk’s job. It is my wish that legal provisions be made or laws introduced once the new government is formed so that this ₹3,000 crore is given back to those who gave it as bribes. Please tell this to the public,” PM Modi told Roy who is pitted against Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra, according to the audio clip released by the BJP.

“These days, the battle is between two groups. On one side, we are taking steps to eradicate corruption from this country while our opponents are getting united to save the corrupt. Even those who voiced charges of corruption are now trying to save the corrupt. The nation is not the priority for these people. Their priority is to stay in power,” Modi said.

“Our target in this election is to have a corruption-free India so that the young generation can have a bright future,” Modi added.

Eminent lawyer and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who is representing eligible candidates deprived of jobs because of the scam, said the PM was misleading people.

“There is no legal provision which allows money unearthed during an investigation to be returned. Whose money is it? If Modi is so serious about returning money, then why doesn’t he return the amount received through electoral bonds that the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional,” Bhattacharya said.

Amrita Roy, the candidate who received PM Modi’s phone call, joined the BJP on March 20 and is among the 19 candidates announced by the party in its second list for West Bengal on Sunday evening.

Roy is a member of the erstwhile royal family of Krishnanagar and has been pitted against Mahua Moitra, the firebrand TMC leader who won the seat in 2019. She was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December last year in connection with the cash-for-query case.

Roy’s candidature was announced by BJP hours after CBI raided Moitra’s properties in Kolkata and Nadia.

Roy mentioned Moitra during the conversation.

“When I ask people what will happen to Mahua Moitra, they say she is bound to land in jail,” Roy told the PM.

TMC spokesperson Santanu Sen said the ED action against Mahua Moitra was part of the BJP’s political vendetta against opposition parties to disturb their campaign, a charge refuted by the BJP.

Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “Federal agencies may summon anybody at any point in time. This is part of their investigation and has nothing to do with BJP. Our party‘s victory at Krishnanagar does not depend on summons sent to Mahua Moitra”.