TRINAMOOL Congress (TMC) General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy has been summoned by the CBI for questioning about the Saradha chit fund scam. Trinamool Supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal has been loud in protesting the innocence of her party leaders, Madan Mitra and Srinjoy Bose who are in jail. Now, the number two of the party, Mukul Roy is in the dragnet. State Transport and Sports Minister Madan Mitra was arrested the day he was interrogated by the CBI. The Trinamool Congress has mounted an agitation to mobilize public opinion against the CBI, terming it the BJP’s frontal organization. The TMC has every right to protest but it must not interfere with the CBI investigation into the multi-crore scam. The question is whether the Chief Minister of West Bengal vociferously defending the accused, even personally hitting the street may boomerang on her. It has been said that the lady protests too much. In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi did not take sides on the issue as befits the head of a state. On the other hand, it has been held that Mamata Banerjee may derive political mileage from the predicament facing her party.
The CBI is under pressure to collect sufficient evidence against the TMC leaders who have been accused of benefitting from the Saradha scam. If the CBI falters, the TMC will make maximum use of it to its political advantage. Mamata Banerjee is already on the warpath. The acid test will be whether the cloud over the TMC will have an adverse impact on the coming elections for municipalities including Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) where the TMC enjoys a massive majority.
