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Opposition rally in West Bengal, this time for Mamata Banerjee
For the first time, all opposition parties have stood by Mamata Banerjee over an issue related to the 2013 Saradha chit fund case — a major shift from the early days of the case when the Trinamool Congress was left to fend for itself.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s latest tirade against the Narendra Modi government — this time over the Central Bureau of Investigation’s alleged attempts to arrest Kolkata police chief — appears to be a politically calculated move ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
For the first time, all opposition parties have stood by her over an issue related to the 2013 Saradha chit fund case— a major shift from the early days of the case when the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was left to fend for itself. In Lok Sabha, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday described the incident as “an effort to terminate all opposition parties to bring an autocratic government”.
Biju Janata Dal’s Lok Sabha floor leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said, “The manner in which the CBI officers wanted to barge into Kolkata Police Commissioner’s residence, that too, with 40 personnel was unheard of. We are not a Banana republic.” Minutes after Banerjee sat on a dharna in the heart of Kolkata, top Opposition leaders including Congress president Rahul Gandhi reached out to her and offered support.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also supported Banerjee. “We applaud & support the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee against the autocracy & tyranny of the Central govt.,” Thackeray tweeted.
Follow live updates here: Tejashwi Yadav, Kanimozhi join West Bengal CM at protest against CBI and Centre
Even her arch-rival CPI(M), which wants to oust Banerjee from Bengal, had to take a calibrated stand. Its MP Badaruddoza Khan dubbed the CBI raid as “a drama to divert people’s attention from CPI(M)’s successful rally on Sunday” even as he criticised Banerjee’s politics.
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut said that “if CM of a big state as WB, is sitting on dharna, then it is a serious matter. Is this CBI vs Mamata Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee vs BJP, we’ll find out soon. If CBI is being misused, it’s a matter of dignity of the nation, and prestige of the agency (CBI).”
For Banerjee, who was quick to give the episode a political twist, the developments comes when the CBI is facing credibility crisis after its recent internal squabbling. Ahead of the polls, the Centre’s attempt to undermine the Bengal government is surely a favourite theme for Banerjee to rake up the old political allegations of “Centre’s conspiracy” to her Bengal audience.
The BJP, however, hit out at the Bengal CM. He also pointed out at old statements and tweets of Gandhi and other Congress leaders criticising Banerjee over Saradha chit fund case. Prasad indicated that Banerjee is possibly afraid of the officer’s arrest as it might lead to leakage of information.
Another Union minister, Prakash Javadekar, said that the CBI investigation in the Saradha chit fund case was “not started by the Modi government but by the Supreme Court”.
“We want to know why the chief minister is running away from investigation? We want to ask Mamata Banerjee why is she staging dharna, who does she want to shield? Police Commissioner or herself?” Javadekar said at a press conference.
For Banerjee, this seems to be yet another opportunity to get other opposition parties rallying around her ahead of the election. Although the support doesn’t cement her position as the leader of any anti-BJP coalition, the Trinamool expects that this helps to bolster Banerjee’s image with elections due in less than two months.
