Breaking her silence after a barrage of accusations and the arrest of a Trinamool leader by CBI over the past few days, West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, claimed on Friday that her party has not taken a penny from Saradha.
“Trinamool has not taken a penny from Saradha. The opposition raises this issue only before elections... We even got our own party MP (read Kunal Ghosh) arrested,” said Mamata in an interview uploaded in the party website, hours before two assembly constituencies go to the polls in Bengal.
She also said: “I am blamed for my modest background and modest education. Is it my fault that I do not have English medium schooling?” She also drew a parallel between the situation her party is facing and Sahara Group.
“Sahara sponsored Indian cricket team. Will you blame cricketers for Sahara’s activities?” said Mamata.
Blaming the Left Front government for the mess, she said, “When did the Saradha scam happen? When Left was in power. So many other chit fund scams happened during the Left Front rule like Sanchayita and Sanchita. The Congress, BJP and the Left are trying to protect the real culprits,” she said.
Coming down heavily on the media she said in the interview: “The media is engaging in smear campaign. They are peddling lies and malicious propaganda. They are not showing facts.” When asked to comment on the fact that new entrants who joined the party after the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011 are bringing bad name to the party she said, “Every family has some bad elements. Does that mean the entire family is bad?”
{{/usCountry}}Coming down heavily on the media she said in the interview: “The media is engaging in smear campaign. They are peddling lies and malicious propaganda. They are not showing facts.” When asked to comment on the fact that new entrants who joined the party after the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011 are bringing bad name to the party she said, “Every family has some bad elements. Does that mean the entire family is bad?”
{{/usCountry}}