Cooch Behar (West Bengal), April 8 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not completing probes into Saradha scam and Narada case in the last five years.
“He (Modi) talked a lot about Saradha (chit fund scam) and Narada (sting operation case). The Saradha scam took place during the reign of the CPI-M. Have you arrested a single person from the CPI-M or the Congress? Your friend CBI is probing the scam since 2013. It has been six years. Have you been able return the money to a single person,” Banerjee said.
She also urged the court to speed up the proceedings. “We want the court to complete the proceedings quickly and give judgement. People should know the truth,” said Banerjee.
Addressing a meeting at the Rash Mela Ground, where the Prime Minister held a massive rally just a day ago, the Trinamool Congress supremo said the people will throw him out from “his chair as well as politics” in the elections.
“The case is in your hand. Why have you not done anything, so far? You have been sitting idle. What can you do after coming back to power? Why is the court not able to do anything (in Saradha-Narada),” said Banerjee amid thunderous applause.
At the Sunday rally, Modi flayed Banerjee’s party, accusing it of devouring common man’s money through ponzy scams, like Saradha and Rose Valley, and referred to the Narada sting case where a number of senior Trinamool leaders were purportedly seen taking cash and promising to provide undue benefits to a fictitious company.
All three cases are being probed by the CBI under the direction of the Supreme Court.
Banerjee termed Modi as “fascist, autocratic, Hirtlar-like expiry Prime Minister”. She also criticised the BJP for fielding in the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat former Trinamool youth leader Nisith Pramanik who has 11 criminal cases against him, including murder and arms smuggling.
“You are talking so much about Saradha-Narada. Who was sitting beside you during yesterday’s meeting? Whom have you given ticket from here? He is an arms dealer and involved in human trafficking. We have driven him out from our party,” Banerjee said.
“They (BJP) could have given ticket to a simple labourer. They could have told me. I would have lent you a candidate for free,” she said mocking the BJP.
She also took a swipe on Modi for claiming that the Trinamool Congress was resorting to “child-like antics”, like trying to occupy the rally ground and cause inconvenience to attendees.
“This venue was booked by us. But we allowed him to hold the rally. We booked this ground on March 31. You (Modi) sought the permission much later. No one else would have allowed him to hold the meeting. Has he no shame? He should be grateful to us,” she added.
