NEW DELHI: With senior Congressman and former Union minister Kapil Sibal defending West Bengal government and Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy in the Saradha scam case in Supreme Court, massive protests erupted in the state Congress unit on Monday, leaving the party high command in a fix.
West Bengal government was represented by Kapil Sibal and TMC was represented by Vivek Tankha in the court. Alleging political vendetta by the Centre, the ruling Trinamool Congress and state government have sought that the CBI probe in the scam be monitored by the apex court.
Bengal Congress leaders said the move will only strengthen BJP’s hand as it will accuse Congress of backing the scam-tainted TMC government in the state and demolish opposition Congress’s campaign against TMC in the Saradha case.
As anticipated, BJP wasted no time in picking up the issue. The party questioned the Congress leadership on whether it has dissociated itself with Bengal Congress leader (Abdul Mannan) on the basis of whose petition the Supreme Court ordered the CBI probe into Saradha and other chit-fund scams.
Senior Congress leaders like Mannan, Deepa Dasmunsi and Somen Mitra not only complained to the central leadership on Monday but also decided to boycott the party’s rally in Kolkata planned for Tuesday by Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhury. This could be a big blow for Congress whose strength has been dwindling in the state.
Central Congress leader C P Joshi, who is in-charge of West Bengal, will visit Kolkata on Tuesday morning and first meet the state PCC leaders at the party office to resolve the issue. He is scheduled to attend the Congress rally in the afternoon.
Dasmunsi told TOI from Kolkata, “We are protesting against Sibal taking up the case, since it is not an ordinary legal issue but the biggest political issue in the state and no one will take us seriously when we campaign against TMC and the government here on the Saradha scam. It is an issue that has to do with the common people, it will seem like Congress party is working against the people who have suffered huge losses in the scam. This can only strengthen the hands of BJP which will invariably try to establish that Congress and TMC are together in the Saradha scam. I am not going to attend the party rally tomorrow (Tuesday) in protest. What will we tell people.”
Mannan, who has been pleading with the Congress high command to align with the Left to keep BJP out of the state and opposing any tie-up with TMC, said, “This move can only weaken our party’s position in the state, when we could have actually worked at strengthening Congress and allow good political leaders and workers to return to the party if they have to leave TMC.”
Party leaders from the state have said Sibal should not have taken up TMC’s case in the court as a lawyer, since it has do with the Saradha scam, which has turned into the biggest political issue against the Mamata Banerjee government.
In a statement here, BJP national secretary and in-charge of Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh asked whether Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have disowned their West Bengal leader who had moved a PIL in Supreme Court demanding a CBI inquiry. “If not are they willing to bite the bullet and suspend Kapil Sibal to enforce that Congress has learnt its lesson and is willing to fight corruption,” he asked.
“TMC moving Supreme Court is an internal decision of the party and in a democracy everyone has the right to go to the court. However, it does show that TMC leadership is nervous due to Saradha scam investigation and role of party leaders being exposed,” Singh said.
TOI | Jan 20, 2015
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