Mamata-Modi Meeting An Attempt To Stop Corruption Investigations: Congress, CPI(M)

The CPI(M) and the Congress party on Friday sharply criticised the meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held earlier in the day.

The CPI(M) and Congress alleged that the meeting was an attempt on Mamata's part to "manage the BJP" to stop the investigations by central agencies in various graft cases, including a school appointment scam. 

Mamata arrived in Delhi on Thursday on a four-day visit and met Modi on Friday, following which she went to meet President Droupadi Murmu. Mamata and Modi are believed to have discussed a host of issues, including GST dues to West Bengal and the timely release of funds by Centre for various schemes.

The meeting has come amid Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations in the West Bengal school recruitment scam, in which former top Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee is currently under ED custody. The ED has claimed to recovered more than Rs 50 crores in cash and jewellery in multiple raids on multiple properties owned by Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Chatterjee. She is also in ED custody.

The TMC was quick to hit back at CPI(M) and Congress, maintaining that the allegations were "politically motivated".

The Congress claimed that the TMC, as an "agent of the saffron camp”, was on a mission to destroy opposition unity.

"The way TMC had been functioning for the last few months, it is quite clear that it is acting as an agent of the saffron camp. I had said earlier that TMC is the Trojan horse. Now everything is crystal clear. The TMC has got into an understanding with the BJP to protect its members from CBI and ED investigations in various graft cases," state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

The TMC and the Congress party have had tensions in the recent past, with the most recent example being TMC not supporting Congress veteran Margaret Alva in the vice presidential elections. Sixteen Opposition parties besides the Congress have nominated Alva as the VP candidate.

Chowdhury mocked Mamata's meeting with Modi meeting as an arrangement to "manage BJP".

He said, "We are apprehensive that after this meeting between CM and PM, the ED and other investigating agencies will go slow on several graft cases in Bengal."

In a similar vein, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty alleged that had it been a meeting for getting the dues of state, officers of various departments of the state government would have been present there with relevant documents.

He said, "There is no reason to think that the meeting was in the interest of the state. Now, it is clear that both the parties have a covert understanding. We all want to know what prompted Mamata Banerjee to rush to Delhi to meet the prime minister when senior leaders of her party are being arrested in graft cases."

The TMC dubbed the Congress-CPI(M) allegations as "baseless".

"What is wrong with the chief minister meeting the prime minister with issues concerning the state? This is how the federal structure works. We don't need lessons from Congress and the CPI (M) on opposing the BJP and its policies," said TMC leader Santanu Sen.

Welcoming the development, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership said a chief minister can always meet the prime minister and not much should be read into it.

"A CM calling on PM is the most natural thing to happen in a federal structure, more so for Mamta Bannerjee who is known for abusing PM in filthiest language. The theory of 'setting' propagated by the two rootless wonders- CPM and Congress- is a figment of their imagination (sic)," said BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar in a tweet. 

Notably, the Congress party's criticism of Mamata and TMC has come at a time when reports said that Mamata might meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during her visit to Delhi. 

PTI on Thursday reported: "With the TMC warming up to the Congress in Parliament, Banerjee might also meet the grand old party president Sonia Gandhi, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case."

It also cited sources to report that Mamata will attend a NITI Aayog meeting on Sunday. It also reported that a meeting with non-Congress Opposition leaders such as that of the DMK, TRS, and AAP on Saturday is also possible. 

(With PTI inputs)