West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party of tit-for-tat move if the central investigative agencies continued to arrest the Trinamool Congress leaders.
“If they have out four of my people in jail, I have also decided to arrest eight of their people as we have cases against them,” she said in Kolkata.
Last month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out raids at the premises of Bengal forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick in connection with the alleged ration/PDS system scam, leading to his arrest.
The ED had also conducted raids at premises of Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh and TMC leader Gopal Saha.
The CBI had raided state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim and TMC legislator Madan Mitra.
Both Hakim and Mitra had been arrested by the CBI in May 2021 in connection with the Narada scam. They were later released on bail.
Further attacking the BJP, CM Banerjee said, “Their plan is to remove Mahua Moitra (from Lok Sabha). This will help her become more popular before the elections. What she used to speak inside (Parliament), now she will speak outside…”
Moitra is accused of taking bribes, including Rs 2 crore in cash, from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions targeting the Modi government in Parliament.
The TMC had distanced itself from the controvery, giving ammunition to the BJP that said that Moitra has been “abandoned”, and that Banerjee’s silence was an admission of her party leader’s guilt.
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