Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Srinjoy Bose was yesterday sent to CBI custody for his alleged complicity in the Saradha scam, as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the federal government for its “divisive politics” and dared it to impose President’s rule in the state.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool chief, said she would not be cowed down by the intimidating tactics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government but would retaliate.
She questioning the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) credibility and called for its reconstitution.
Even as Banerjee hit out at the federal government and the CBI, Governor K N Tripathi justified Bose’s arrest, saying the probe agency “must have reasons”
to do so.
Addressing party activists here, Banerjee said: “Just because I went to Delhi to attend a conclave of secular parties, they took revenge by arresting our MP.”
Ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “frequent foreign visits”, she said “the man in charge of the nation... how much time has he spent in India? People who have several cases of rioting against them, how can they point fingers at us?”
“If we are hit, we will hit back. Don’t show us red eyes. We are not dependent on you.
“We are not slaves of power. We are not weak. We will pay them back politically for every action. They can impose Article 356 if they want,” the chief minister said, referring to the article that deals with failure of the constitutional machinery of the state, which leads to President’s rule.
“Other political leaders like (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi are silent because they are afraid. However, you cannot keep me silent. I fear no one. I cannot be silenced,” she said, announcing that her party would hold a rally in the city November 24 against the federal government’s “conspiracy against Trinamool”.
Questioning the integrity of the CBI, which Friday arrested Bose, Banerjee said: “About the CBI, I don’t have to say anything, the Supreme Court has already said enough about its credibility.”
“Our fight against political vendetta has started. They have attacked us, we will reply politically. They want to silence all voices of dissent. They are afraid of me, hence engaging in conspiracies,” she added.
IANS
