Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, has made her the target of the Congress and CPM. Their spin — the Chief Minister is “going soft on him”. Ms Banerjee, an unrelenting critic of the Prime Minister, had surprised many by her comment yesterday that all but cleared him of any role in investigations that might be making businessmen flee India.
“BJP leaders (who) are conspiring” deserve the blame for that, she had said, pointing out that the CBI reports to the Union Home Ministry, controlled by Amit Shah, and not the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Congress accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of playing “hide-and-seek”, after the TMC chief said she did not believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi was behind the alleged misuse of central agencies in the state.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked if Banerjee was giving a clean chit to the prime minister at a time when the entire country was raising questions on the issue of misuse of agencies as that would give rise to doubts on her intentions too.
The opposition cannot play “hide-and-seek” in politics as it has to seek accountability from the prime minister on issues of public importance, Shrinate said.
Shrinate said, “I do not know that she is trying to corner Amit Shah-ji while leaving out Modi-ji. I don’t know whether she has decided that Modi-ji is good, I will not comment on her point, but yes, I will definitely say two things.” “In this government of rulers sitting in Delhi, nothing moves without the approval of Prime Minister Modi. When you give a clean chit to the prime minister, somewhere you are acquitting him of the charges on which the country is asking questions today,” she added.
“We will corner the government on every issue that concerns the public. We don’t care if you send the ED or the CBI against us, spread false propaganda or send your troll army, you will be asked questions on issues.
“If Narendra Modi is the prime minister, then it is our job to seek accountability. I think this is our job, our duty and our religion,” she said, adding that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi does this work by being “fearless and steadfast”.
“Like the rest of the opposition, we cannot play hide-and-seek by saying a bit now, then going back and get votes in their favour and then go back,” the Congress leader said.
The party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused Ms Banerjee of being a “Trojan horse” in the opposition fold.
“Mamata is holding out an olive branch to PM out of desperation. The reason is obvious. When the ruling dispensation of West Bengal has been confronting the investigating agencies, who have been acting at the behest of the court, the TMC itself has been rattled,” said Mr Chowdhury, who shares a particularly bitter relationship with Ms Banerjee.
“The image of Mamata Banerjee as a politician, who holds the impression of integrity and honesty, has been shattered… Now Mamata Banerjee is shuddering with fear because she knows where the shoe pinches,” he added.
In the no-holds-barred attack, he also said that there is “nothing new” in Ms Banerjee’s “appreciation of BJP and the RSS (BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)”. Ms Banerjee was once a part of the NDA, “so the relationship is not new at all,” he said.
The CPM, whose 35-year rule was ended by Mamata Banerjee in 2011, went a step further. Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress were “born as an offshoot of RSS in 1998,” said party leader Sujan Chakraborty.
