As political Mahabharata continues in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to be back in her role as Mahishasurmardini or more properly as “Mahishasurmardini of the streets”. Mamata Banerjee, who was on a ‘dharna’ over the CBI’s forceful attempt to question the Kolkata Police Commissioner in connection with chit fund scams, was adamant that she will continue her “satyagraha” until the country and its Constitution are “saved”. However, Banerjee on Tuesday evening called off her sit-in protest.
Acc. to Hindu mythology, Mahishasurmardini was a goddess born out of all the deities to kill the asuras. However, this Bengali leader is known for her street fighting acumen. The latest turmoil in the nation, which got an upsurge from Delhi and reached to West Bengal, triggered flutters in political circles and has smittened the entire nation.
TMC Lok Sabha MP Idris Ali asserted, “Whatever decision our Chief Minister Mamata has taken is right and for the safety of the country as a whole and the SC verdict indicates the same. BJP has misused the independent institutions like CBI; the entire nation and the world have gone against BJP for its strategies. Mamata’s dharma is not to save the Kolkata Police Chief, but to save the democracy.”
Few months back, rounds of rumours were going on that Mamata Banerjee has reached an understanding with the central leadership of the party (BJP) and the entire government machinery including the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are slowing down with their investigations into cases of corruption and financial impropriety against some of the Trinamool leaders. Many senior Trinamool leaders were accused of chit fund scams. Trinamool MPs Sudip Bandopadhyay and Tapas Paul, along with others, were arrested and were imprisoned (they are out on bail now) in the Rose Valley scam. Madan Mitra (the former transport minister) and MP Kunal Ghosh were also arrested for their involvement in the Saradha scam. Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and her brothers too have been accused of amassing huge assets. The scams defamed Mamata and it was assumed that it will affect functionaries of her party.
Congress Spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil told AV, “If anyone speaks a word against Modi, the action is taken misusing the power. It’s very unfortunate that issues like CBI vs Kolkata Police are taking place. Our Constitution has defined the power of the Centre and the States in a very clear way. The law and order is a subject under the state government and if CBI wanted to interrogate Police Chief, they could’ve followed the system. Congress stands with justice, democracy, Constitution; not only Mamata, we too are fighting to save the country’s democracy.”
While Mamata Banerjee was fuming over central government’s sapient exercise to use investigative machinery against her government to corner her before the 2019 polls, a few months back she declared that there will be no free pass to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for conducting raids or investigations in the state. According to reports, the CBI has full jurisdiction to carry out its searches, raids, investigations in the national capital but it can only enter other states with the “general consent” of their government. As the CBI probes moved further a climax happened when a couple of days back CBI team barged into Kolkata Police Chief Rajeev Kumar’s residence. The CBI team wanted to interrogate him allegedly for ignoring summons sent by the agency on two Ponzi scams. Further, the West Bengal Police on Sunday detained members of a CBI team which had arrived at the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to question him in connection with Rose Valley and Saradha Ponzi scams.
BJP MP Saroj Pandey stated, “CBI is only doing its duty and such protests to save the Police Commissioner don’t suit a Chief Minister. Indian Constitution has varied rules for both the Centre and the State governments and everybody must follow the same. The CBI vs Kolkata Police issue should not be used for political mileage. West Bengal Chief Minister challenging CBI is constitutionally wrong.”
Amidst high political drama in West Bengal, Banerjee sat for ‘Save the Constitution’ dharna in Kolkata since last Sunday night, to protest against the CBI’s move to arrest the Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from his residence.
While the voyeurism continues making the country stand still, Mamata browbeats the central government that the TMC will not fall to the feudalism and violation of the constitutional principles and the party will fight against the knock on the Constitution.
Back to her old days, Mamata was known for her militant style of politics. In 1993, when she was in youth Congress, she sat for strike in front of then chief minister Jyoti Basu’s office to protest against a rape case. She was then assaulted but her political journey thrived after that dharna incident.
In 1996, she did high drama in Alipore, Kolkata, to kill herself. In 2006, with the outbreak of the Singur-Nandigram movements, this seasoned politician with her 25-days hunger strike gained huge political mileage and she became the leader of the masses.
After the unexpected setback in the recent five state elections, the BJP is focussing hard to spread its wings in Bengal by igniting communal politics across the state. Amit Shah and PM Modi are targeting the TMC over corruption, health, education, and industries and misrule in the state. Mamata recently aborted three massive Rath Yatras of BJP in the state.
Her latest strike in solidarity with many parties including Congress, AAP, RJD, BSP boomeranged the Modi government and has put brakes to their aspirations. This will not only benefit the TMC leader to aggravate her political journey ahead of the 2019 elections but will also smash the BJP out of her way. Moreover, the political analysts believe, it’s high time that BJP must understand that their traits to use a communal prism for any regional issue for their political vendetta will not help the party to sustain in a long run.
CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat expressed, “Both BJP and Trinamool are responsible for this chaos in West Bengal. The CM is supporting the people who have looted the poor while PM Modi too failed to take proper action against corrupt people; all these fuss is buzzing around since the election is near.”
