West Bengal CM clean chit for party leaders in Narada sting

Giving a clean chit to her party leaders who figured in the sting tapes, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said her party had not taken a single penny from neither people involved in Saradha nor those in Narada. On Friday, she had ordered a probe by city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar into the Narada sting operation, which she insisted was a conspiracy to defame her party.

On Saturday Ms Banerjee accused the news portal behind the sting operation of amassing crores by blackmailing people.

“We had not asked you for money. You had sought an appointment from us. You came to meet us and you yourself kept the money on our tables, took pictures and accused us of taking bribe,” she said.

Ms Banerjee was speaking at a political workshop organised by Trinamul Congress at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. She warned that now political leaders would think 10 times before giving appointments to anyone. “You are a person known to me and I agree to meet you when you seek an appointment. However, you meet with an ulterior motive. We must know how many crores these people have raised by blackmailing,” she said, adding that this was the objective behind her decision to order a probe.

Some of the top party leaders who were seen in the sting footage, like Firhad Hakim, Suvendu Adhikari, Mukul Roy, Sultan Ahmed and Sovan Chatterjee, were present on the stage. Defending them, Ms Banerjee said none of them had taken money.

“Was Suvendu Adhikari so hard up that he needed this Rs 1.5 lakh Did Fihad Hakim take the Rs 2 lakh to feed his family ” Ms Banerjee asked sarcastically.

The Opposition reiterated its charge that Ms Banerjee’s probe order was just a hogwash.

“On Friday she ordered the probe and on Saturday herself gave the verdict. She claims these leaders who were caught on camera grabbing wads of notes are innocent. When she has given her verdict then what is the need for the inquiry ” CPI(M) MP Mohammad Salim asked.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury and his BJP counterpart Dilip Ghosh said people did not have faith in an inquiry by a state police officer.

“If she has the courage, she should seek a probe by any independent central agency like the CBI or ED,” Mr Ghosh said.