Mamata Banerjee spares Modi from central agency blame

Businessmen are leaving from all over the country, running away, out of fear of misuse of the ED and CBI: Bengal CM

Modi at a meeting with a Sikh delegation at his residence in New Delhi on Monday.:PTI picture

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |  TT  | Calcutta   |  20.09.22 : Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said she does not believe Narendra Modi has unleashed the central agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in Bengal, adding that “this is being done by (other) BJP leaders”.

During a discussion in support of a resolution moved by the Trinamul Congress-led state government in the Assembly against the alleged misuse of central agencies to suppress and corner the BJP’s political opponents, the Bengal chief minister repeatedly brought up the Prime Minister.

“Many don’t know that the CBI no longer reports to the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office), but to the Union home ministry (under minister Amit Shah). The agency is not controlled by the PMO,” Mamata said during her 27-minute address.

“Businessmen are leaving from all over the country, running away, out of fear of misuse of the ED and the CBI,” she added. “I do not believe Narendra Modi has done this. This is being done by (other) BJP leaders.”

Her remarks surprised the BJP MLAs. It also prompted a jibe from leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari that her taking Modi’s name won’t be enough to save “the nephew” — a reference to Abhishek Banerjee — from the central agencies probing alleged corruption in Bengal.

Without rising to the bait, the chief minister demanded to know why certain BJP leaders were frequently seen at the offices of central agencies. “Why do your leaders sit at Nizam Palace in the evenings, what advice do they give, against whom…?” she asked.

The Trinamul chief wondered why the Centre kept blocking the release of funds due to the state, accusing the state BJP leadership of advising their Delhi bosses against funds release.

“This will not last. Abraham Lincoln had said, ‘You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time’. Remember it. Remember it well,” Mamata said.

“With due respect to the Prime Minister… I have to ask him to rein in these people (the state BJP leadership). They advise you against the release of funds for the 100-day (employment guarantee) scheme funds, but they do not urge you against buying cheetahs,” she added.

Mamata was referring to the cheetahs from Namibia that Modi had released into Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park as part of a reintroduction initiative. “(Modi is) now a cheetah-mitra (friend),” she added.

She went on to urge Modi to ensure that his government functioned like one.

“It was his birthday (on September 17), so I will only say this much… do not turn the government and the party into one and the same thing. The government should function like a government. A party should function like a party. You have blurred the lines between them. A cheetah and a tomcat are not one and the same thing,” Mamata said.

The chief minister defended her government’s right to move the resolution, and regretted the state the nation had arrived at in the hands of the current Union government and its agencies.

“Remember, the main objective of the resolution is not to condemn anybody but to uphold neutrality (of the agencies), not partiality,” she said.

“I am not saying the CBI is bad…. There is the BSF, CISF, SSB, IB, R&AW… there are so many. I am just asking them to be impartial, not one-sided.”

Mamata accused the BJP leadership of being corrupt and yet going scot-free because of the central agencies’ partiality.

“Those in saffron who are thrilled to bits over these raids, if their homes are raided, piles of cash will be found in every room,” she said, going on to ask why none from the BJP ever got summoned by a central agency for interrogation. She attacked Adhikari and his clan several times during the address, accusing them of having amassed a fortune through corruption.

Demanding answers on the “thousands of crores” allegedly distributed to buy off MLAs and fell democratically elected non-BJP governments in various states, such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, Mamata said the BJP was worse than dictators.

“They are more than dictators. More than Hitler, more than Stalin, more than Mussolini, more than… whatnot,” she said.