CPM launches 'Nawjore Sarkar' to expose govt corruption

The decision comes at a time when the TMC government finds itself on the backfoot following arrest of Partha Chatterjee

A Left Front rally in Calcutta on Wednesday. : Pradip Sanyal

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |    28.07.22  : The CPM has decided to launch a new initiative “Nawjore Sarkar (eyes on the government)” as a part of its attempts to unearth alleged “incidents of irregularities and corruption” of the Mamata Banerjee government.

The decision comes at a time when the Trinamul Congress government finds itself on the backfoot following the arrest of industries minister Partha Chatterjee, the de facto Number 2 in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet in connection with alleged School Service Commission recruitment scam.

“We will encourage the general public to share their grievances and allegations against the government with us. Once the details are collected, we shall share them on social media and other platforms,” CPM state secretary Md. Salim told The Telegraph.

The programme will be in line with the CPM’s earlier initiative “Paharaye Public (Public on Vigil)”, which was launched in the aftermath of the carnage in Birbhum’s Bogtui. This initiative was focused on exposing crimes of Trinamul leaders, from the grassroots to the state-level. Within two months of its launch, the CPM issued a booklet listing allegations against several Trinamul leaders, on the basis of information they had received anonymously from the people.

Salim said of over 1,000 entries received through the “Paharaye Public” initiative, only a select few had been published, while the rest would be published in due time.

The Nawjore Sarkar initiative will target the government directly.

“As you see, a senior minister has been arrested for selling off jobs of deserving candidates. This is just the tip of the iceberg and the entire administration and all Trinamul leaders are involved in similar corruption. Through the Nawjore Sarkar initiative, the public themselves will expose them,” Salim said.

He added the CPM would next launch such initiatives against individual leaders of Trinamul and BJP alike.

The Left Front on Wednesday upped its ante in the battle to target the state government and Trinamul over the SSC scam.

The Left Front took out three major rallies in Calcutta demanding resignation of Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister and immediate recruitment of job seekers.

The rallies started from Park Circus, Sealdah station and Howrah station and concluded together in front of the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road.

“If the investigation is done properly, crores of black money will be unearthed. The person sitting on top of all this black money is Mamata Banerjee,” said CPM veteran Sujan Chakrabroty, who led the rally from Howrah. Left Front chairman Biman Bose was also present at the meeting.

Mithun gets BJP booth charge: Mithun Chakraborty

The BJP has decided to use actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty at booth strengthening programmes in the state ahead of the next year’s panchayat polls.

The booth sashaktikaran or strengthening programme is a central BJP initiative where all lawmakers have been asked to identify weak booths in a constituency and work towards strengthening them.

However, Chakraborty’s appointment has attracted questions from several MLAs. Multiple lawmakers, speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, asked if Chakraborty would be able to contribute anything to the programme since the job needed hands-on experience of politics.