Sardha heat closes in as Bengal heads to President`s Rule!’
Palash Biswas
Did declares yet another Jihad and challenges:'PM Modi, Arrest Me,' Says Mamata Banerjee After Her Minister Madan Mitra is Caught in Saradha Scam. West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra was arrested on Friday in the Saradha chit fund case, in growing trouble for the government of Mamata Banerjee. He was seen in video clips praising Saradha Group chairman Sudipto Sen at a meeting of Saradha agents and allegedly enjoyed benefits like a car, fuel and driver at the company's expense. He allegedly also extracted donations out of Sudipto Sen for a temple.
"I dare the Prime Minister and the BJP leadership to arrest me," the Chief Minister challenged, alleging vindictive politics by the Centre.NDTV reports.
No wonder,Bengal is thrown into total anarchy where ruling party supporters have come down to streets and stopped the life lines!
Opposition gears for a head on clash,tomorrow would witness all kinds of protest and celebration making it very very tense!
Mitra reportedly consulted starteller to set a date with CBI and he has been arrested on Friday Jummewar.His constituency Kamarhati is consisted of a big Muslim Population day and Mamata has hinted to make the arrest on Jummewar a major political issue ,complaing greater conspiracy by the centre.
Having resigned senior minister Madan Mitra resigns but Matata rejects and stands rock solid with Arrested Madan! Declares jihad against the Centre.
Soon after Mitra's arrest today (12 December), the fiery and mercurial chief minister claimed that Mitra's arrest was decided even before Amit Shah came to Kolkata for a public rally last month, which she did her utmost to prevent.First Post reports.
Speaking to press after Mitra's arrest, chief minister Mamata Banerjee attacked the BJP saying, "the BJP is indulging in goondaism in Bengal." She said that the arrest of Mitra is an unconstitutional, illegal move.
So far, the CBI has arrested Trinamool Congress MP, Srinjoy Bose; suspended MP Kunal Ghosh and party functionary, Rajat Majumdar along with three other people —Debabrata Sarkar, Sandhir Agarwal and Sadanand Gogoi — in connection with the Saradha scam.
The Saradha group, involved in various ponzi schemes, went bust in April 2013 duping thousands of small investors across West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Bihar and Odisha. Its chairman, Sudipta Sen arrested after the scam broke out by West Bengal police; has since then been in jail.
It never happened in my life taht I had to come back home from my way to office.It happened today as TMC supporters blocked all main roads on may way in the suburbaan,in the city and on the Highway at the outskirts of the city.
Sitaram Yechuri has said tht Kolkata has become the rape capital of India. I may not say that,But I am worried that teen aged girls from schools and young ladies from educational hubs and workplaces have been stranded mid way in a volatile and insecure situation.
If any one of them faces untoward incident,I am afraid Mamata Banerjee would not be able to hide her face.
CBI acted and Madan Mitra,the senior minister and most faithful colleague in her political life since day one,has been arrested.Mitra had been hospitalised for long complaining serious illness to delay the destiny but doctors in his den in SSKM Hospital could not prove any illness whatsoever.
In a major development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested West Bengal State Transport Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitraafter questioning him for his alleged role in the multi-crore rupee Saradha chit fund scam case.
I am afraid that Didi has already finalised a date with her destiny.
All political parties seem to be united to demand her arrest.As the arrest of Madan Mitra has created the hell losing all over and TMC workers have enough home work toe set Bengal on fire if their leaders land into the prison.I am afraid Bengal would lag behind for decades for this political narchy.
Mamata is a woman and belongs to a family background of a common citizen and she does not represent any dynasty whatsoever.Moreover,she has been standing with the victims all the time and her struggle is unprecedented as he rise has been.
It is just like a greek tragedy for the Left,Congress me and I may not celebrate as the Left,BJP and Congress along with the victims of Sardha scams has began the celebration all over Bengal.I am afraid of the clash between the two opposite sections of the masses highly communalised thanks to high voltage RSS campaign to capture Bengal.
Arrest of Mamata Banerjee is not going to help either the Left or the Congress.It favours the rise of BJP only nad keeping in mind the free market hindutva agenda,we have to be faraid rather.
Addressing a press conference here, taking strong exception to the arrest, Banerjee said, “BJP is trying to bulldoze the democratic institution. Mitra's arrest is illegal and unconstitutional, BJP is misusing the power.”
“Madan Mitra was called in for questioning and was arrested. This is political vendetta,” she added.
Calling the arrests made by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam as unethical, the chief minister termed today's development as 'BJP's Goondaism in Bengal.'
Further reacting over Mitra's arrest, Banerjee said, “Arresting our minister is a bullying tactic. How can the government be kept in dark over minister's arrest?”
She added, “If tomorrow I arrest a Central minister in Bengal, what will they do? 'Why no action against CPM?”
Further backlashing against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, Mamata said, "BJP government at the Centre is 'coward', acting like an 'autocrat'. It is a conspiracy."
"I will go, visit Madan Mitra. Ask them to arrest with whatever police Narendra Modi, BJP president have got at their disposal," Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.
"Madan Mitra submitted his resignation letter, but I am not accepting it because his arrest is illegal," she added.
During the press conference Mamata also announced that the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) plans to stage a major demonstration tomorrow in protest against Madan Mitra's arrest by the CBI.
Prior to the press conference, the arrested TMC minister Madan Mitra had complained of chest pain during a medical examination before being sent to the police custody.
However, the CPI (M) welcomed the development stating Mitra should have been arrested earlier. "This should have happened earlier, three question marks have been erased," said CPI (M) leader Ritabrata Banerjee.
"Nothing to be surprised about, Madan Mitra was going from one hospital to the other to avoid being arrested," another CPI (M) leader Nilotpal Basu said.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Surjya Kanta Mishra also demanded immediate questioning of Mamata Banerjee and others in the Saradha scam. "We will now hit the streets with this demand and demands for action against other ponzi companies as also refund of money to the cheated depositors," Mishra said.
The CBI had last month arrested TMC Member of Parliament Srinjoy Bose in connection with the scam.
The Kolkata-based Saradha Group, ponzi scheme had over 10,000 registered chit funds across the country and with an aggregate turnover of Rs 30,000 crore per annum.
The Saradha Group is said to have defrauded thousands of investors, including poor people, inWest Bengal, leading to the arrest of its owner Sudipta Sen.
Before formally arresting him, the CBI quizzed Mitra for the alleged role he played in the Saradha group and his relations with the group's head Sudipta Sen. Mitra is considered very close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mitra is the third ruling Trinamool Congress minister to have been arrested in connection with the scam. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and taking undue benefits from Saradha group. Mitra's arrest is a major embarrassment for the firebrand West Bengal Chief Minister.
Alleging that West Bengal transport minister Madan Mitra directly contributed in the tainted Saradha group duping lakhs of investors, the Left Front on Friday expressed confidence all those involved in the multi-crore-rupee scam will be punished.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose said Mitra, grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during the day, had directly contributed getting the people cheated by praising scam kingpin and Saradha promoter Sudipta Sen.
"The minister, who is being grilled now, had declared — while addressing a programme in which people involved in chit funds participated — that Sudipta Sen can be relied upon because he has shown how to make an ocean from droplets," Bose said, referring to Mitra's presence in events organized by Saradha.
"The state minister has directly helped in cheating the people of Bengal and, therefore, all those who have contributed in cheating the people deserve to be punished and they will be punished," the veteran Communist party of India-Marxist leader added.
West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra arrives at the CBI's office in Kolkata hours before his arrest. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT photo)
Embarrassment mounted for West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress after the CBI arrested state transport and sports minister Madan Mitra in connection with the Saradha scam on Friday.
He is the first minister of Bengal to be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in any case, and the fourth Trinamool leader to be held by the probe agency in the chit fund scam.
Accusing the Centre of adopting bullying tactics after Mitra’s arrest, Banerjee lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and dared them to arrest her.
“CBI may take Madan to SSKM Hospital. I will go to meet him. Let me see whether Amit Shah’s goondas and Narendra Modi’s police can arrest me,” she said.
“It (the arrest) is unfortunate, shameful and deserves to be condemned. It’s sheer political vendetta. Can the CBI and the Centre go out of their jurisdiction and act like this?” she added. - See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/saradha-scam-madan-mitra-appears-before-cbi/article1-1295803.aspx#sthash.xVkVDmrL.dpuf
Mitra, who was summoned by the CBI for the second time, had reached the CGO Complex here at 11 am, officials said.
In the latest development in the high-profile arrest, Mitra has complained of chest pain during medical examination and is likely to be taken to the hospital.
The CBI had summoned Mitra November 18 for the first time but he could not appear on health ground.
After undergoing treatment at a private hospital initially, Mitra was admitted to the state-run SSKM. Hospital on Nov 20 from where he was discharged on Nov 26.
Denying any involvement in the scam, Mitra after getting discharged from the hospital, had asserted he would cooperate with the CBI whenever it called him for questioning.
The legislator from the Kamarhati assembly constituency had appeared as a guest in several Saradha programmes where he had praised group promoter and scam kingpin Sudipta Sen for generating employment.
The CBI had earlier grilled Mitra's former confidential assistant Bapi Karim.
Mitra is the second state minister to be grilled by the CBI, earlier Textile Minister Shyamapada Mukherjee was questioned.
A few Trinamool leaders including Rajya Sabha members Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose are behind the bars in connection with the scam.
Importantly, the police custody of suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, who was arrested on November 23 in the Saradha Group chit fund scam, also ends today.
Ghosh last month allegedly tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills inside the Alipore Central Jail.
West Bengal Correctional Home Services Minister HA Swafi said, “Ghosh, who was later admitted to a state-run hospital, allegedly took sleeping pills to commit suicide. He later on called the doctor and they found everything to be normal but still as a precautionary measure we did not take any chance and got him admitted to the SSKM Hospital. "
On November 10 when he was produced before a city court, Ghosh had threatened to commit suicide if the CBI did not take proper action against "those involved" within three days.
"Investigation is being influenced. It is not acceptable that I will rot in jail while those involved will roam freely. I am giving three days' time, if action is not taken Iwill commit suicide,” he had said.
'Pechoney baansh': After Madan Mitra arrest, Mamata declares war on BJP
"Pechoney Baansh" was the colourful expression Mamata Banerjee used to explain that her enemies were out to get her.
Her fears came true today (12 December) with the arrest of Madan Mitra, Transport Minister of West Bengal and a close Mamata aide, in connection with the Saradha Ponzi scam. It has suddenly raised the political stakes in West Bengal.
This is the first minister to be arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), even though two Trinamool Rajya Sabha MPs, Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, have already been arrested.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. AFP
Ever since he was arrested in July, Ghosh has been shouting from the rooftops thatMamata Banerjee has been the biggest “beneficiary” of the Sarabha scam. In November, Ghosh is alleged to have attempted suicide, but he survived with a timely trip to the hospital.
With events turning against her, Mamata Banerjee has declared war on the BJP. Soon after Mitra’s arrest today (12 December), the fiery and mercurial chief minister claimed that Mitra’s arrest was decided even before Amit Shah came to Kolkata for a public rally last month, which she did her utmost to prevent.
Today, she appeared clearly rattled as she railed: “This is an illegal and unconstitutional arrest. Who is CBI? What is their jurisdiction? There are so many other cases about which they're sitting quietly. Why hasn't any Left leader been arrested for any scam?”
While a nonchalant Amit Shah said he had nothing to do with the arrest as the CBI was doing its job independently, it is clear that Mamata is fighting on three fronts simultaneously: with the BJP at the Centre, and with the Left and the Congress in Bengal.
Having thrown the Congress unceremoniously out of the West Bengal alliance, and with the Left spurning her offer to fight the BJP together, Mamata is back to fighting her battles all alone for now – though this may change if the BJP is seen to be gaining an upper hand in the state. Right now, Trinamool workers seem to regularly clash with both BJP and Congress in Bengal.
The three big pressure points for Mamata are the Burdwan blast of October, which is being investigated by the National Investigating Agency, the Saradha scam (by the CBI), and Amit Shah’s efforts to grow the BJP in Bengal by attacking the Trinamool andlinking it to both Saradha and Burdwan.
Matters escalated on 30 November, when Shah told a large rally in Kolkata that he was there to evict her from power. In response to Mamata’s haughty poser (“Who is Amit Shah?”), he replied: “I am Amit Shah, a BJP worker. I have come to Bengal to uproot the TMC.”
As noted earlier, the two issues Shah used to pound the Trinamool in Kolkata were the Burdwan blast and the Saradha scam. Shah accused Mamata Banerjee of "shielding the Saradha scamsters and harbouring terrorists". He said: “Bengal needs a government which is patriotic, which doesn’t save the culprits of the Burdwan blast, which does not indulge in corruption,” The Indian Express reported Shah as saying at the rally.
The words “terror” and “patriotism” in the BJP’s lexicon are code for “Islamic terror”, and this time the focus of attention is the fundamentalist Jamait-e-Islami Bangladesh (JIB), which is alleged to have been planning terror attacks in that country from bases in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee’s party is seen to be linked to the JIB, which is alleged to have obtained some funding through the Saradha Ponzi scheme.
So, the dotted line link Shah sought to draw was clear: Saradha scam-black-money-Bangladeshi Muslim-migrants-terrorists-Trinamool.
As if to prove the link, a day before Shah’s rally, the Jamait-e-Islami-e-Hind in Kolkata staged a massive protest in a show of muscle. As The Times of India reported it, “Kolkata was ambushed by a Jamait…rally on Saturday afternoon… At least 11 policemen — including three IPS officers — were injured in brick-batting and 13 police vehicles damaged. Journalists were attacked for ‘intruding on the space meant for rallyists’ — which was Red Road, the city's VIP thoroughfare.” President Pranab Mukherjee had to take a detour due to the Jamait’s forcible occupation of the space.
The message is clear, since the rally could not have been staged without Trinamool’s wink-and-a-nod. What Banerjee’s party is saying is this: she will use the Jamait and clerics to counter the BJP. In Trinamool’s case, the fight for “secularism” is also a dog whistle to egg Muslim bodies to rally to her support. The Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque in Kolkata has been batting for Didi for quite some time now.
But in Bengal’s countryside, not all Muslims are rallying to Mamata’s call as local alignments are based on who can give them protection. With the Left licking its wounds, and with the Congress out of power at the centre, many former Left workers, including some Muslims, have gravitated towards the BJP for protection.
The fight is likely to get bitter as Mamata fights for her political survival ahead of state assembly elections in 2016 and the central agencies (NIA and CBI) go after Trinamool members involved in the Saradha and Burdwan cases.
The fight may get nastier in Bengal. The Bengal Tigress is up against Modi’s proxy lion, Amit Shah.
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