We are thieves, you all are saints, Mamata takes a dig at BJP’s corruption allegations
The Hindu
Remarks by the TMC supremo assume significance as it comes in backdrop of seizure of cash valuing ₹50 crore and jewellery of ₹4.5 crore from the residence of Mr. Chatterjee’s aide
With the Trinamool Congress [TMC] leadership facing the heat after the arrest of two of its heavyweight leaders, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on August 29 said that attempts are being made by the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] to spread canards against her and paint everyone in the party as “thieves”.
“If Partha Chatterjee has indulged in corruption, law will take its course, But Partha is a thief, Bobby (Minister Firhad Hakim) is a thief, Aroop (Minister Aroop Biswas) is a thief, Abhishek (Banerjee) is a thief. I am also a thief. We are all thieves and you are saints,” the TMC chairperson said addressing a gathering of the party’s student wing in Kolkata.
Ms. Banerjee said that If she wasn’t in politics and had not occupied the ‘chair’ then the manner in which the entire TMC is being branded as corrupt she would have asked her sisters to “snap the tongues of those trying to slander us”.
“If Partha Chatterjee does something, they are dragging Mamata Banerjee into it. If Bobby is doing something, they are dragging Mamata Banerjee into it. Even (for trivial issues like) if the rice is not hot they are dragging Mamata Banerjee into it,” she said.
During her first political rally after the arrest of former party general secretary Partha Chatterjee and influential leader Anubrata Mondal, Ms. Banerjee said that a “media trial” was going on and urged her supporters not to believe what the media says.
The TMC supremo said that if tomorrow the agencies say that ‘Bobby’ has been arrested because huge cash was seized from him they should not believe it. “It will be completely staged,” she added.
The remarks by the chief minister assume significance as it comes in backdrop of seizure of cash valuing ₹50 crore and jewellery of ₹4.5 crore from the residence of Mr. Chatterjee’s aide during raids by Enforcement Directorate and fixed deposits valuing ₹16.97 crore being found in the relatives of Anubrata Mondal by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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