TU TU ‘CHOR CHOR’.... Coming soon: Narada scenes on giant screens

TT, March 15: This World T20 season, voters in Bengal will be treated to another spectacle - the alleged pastime of some of their elected representatives.

The CPM today announced plans of beaming on giant screens across the state images of the Narada sting operation where Trinamul leaders are seen purportedly taking money. The Congress is readying CDs of footage from the tapes, while the BJP said it would have arrangements in its campaign vehicles to show the videos.

Trinamul's immediate counter was Om Shanti Om. MLA Subhrangshu Roy, whose father Mukul is one of those seen in the Narada tapes, suggested that the videos had been doctored and cited the example of a song from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Om Shanti Om, where Deepika Padukone is seen dancing with yesteryear heroes.

CPM politburo member Mohammad Salim said: "The videos have already been shared widely on social media. Giant screens will be set up and voters will be shown the videos in all constituencies."

Sources in the CPM, BJP and the Congress said they were in the process of preparing CDs of the footage, which would be distributed among party workers across the state.

A CPM central committee member said the party would question "Trinamul's biggest political capital - Mamata Banerjee's personal probity".

Several protest marches against "corruption" were held across the state today by the CPM, Congress and the BJP.

CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said the focus of the attack would be Mamata.

"I have been an MLA for 25 years. I challenge the chief minister to get a probe conducted by any agency to find out my assets in India or abroad, in my name or anyone else's name. But she should also reveal how the assets of her family have grown in the past five years," he said after filing his nomination from West Midnapore's Narayangarh.

CPM sources said the logistics of the giant screens were being worked out.

"We, too, are making arrangements to show the videos to the voters. After the Saradha scam, Narada will be the agenda against Trinamul," said Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya.

The BJP will keep provisions of showing the videos in its 100 raths that will criss-cross the constituencies.

"The true face of Trinamul's Ma Mati Manush has been exposed. The raths will travel in phases to all constituencies and the video will obviously be a part," said Bengal BJP co-minder Sidharth Nath Singh.

Earlier, too, Trinamul had faced challenges to Mamata's personal probity, but the party had managed to weather the Saradha scam. This time, however, the Opposition believes that the purported presence of some of her closest aides in the Narada tapes would help it "nail" her.

In response to the Opposition attack, Trinamul has floated a conspiracy theory.

"Technology has advanced so much. You go to any office in Salt Lake's Sector V and they will make such videos. A few years ago in a Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone film, the heroine was seen dancing with stars from 30 years ago. If that could be done, why not this?" said MLA Subhrangshu.

His father, Mukul, today met Debanjan Mandal, a partner in the solicitor firm Fox Mandal, to draw up a legal defence.

"We have sent notices to the news portal (Narada) and the media houses that carried the news without verification," Mukul told The Telegraph, which is among the newspapers that reported the sting operation.

Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikari, who purportedly features in the tapes, said he had filed a defamation suit against the news portal.

Food minister Jyotipriya Mullick said visitors had to leave their bags outside before entering his office.

Abdur Rezzak Mollah, the MLA who has joined Trinamul after being expelled from the CPM, saw a brighter side to the entire episode.

"The only good thing that has happened is that the charge of a Modi-Didi bonhomie has been wiped out," the veteran said.