Calcutta Corner

In Calcutta, speculation is rife. Will he? Won't he? Will Mukul Roy be arrested? Or won't he? The All India Trinamool Congress general secretary had been summoned by CBI last week in connection with the chit fund scam. Roy, a member of Parliament, was in Delhi. On January 15th, the date on which he was supposed to appear before the central investigative body's special interrogating team, he arrived in Calcutta. 

While in Delhi, he had told reporters that he would not try to evade facing the inquisition and that he would cooperate fully. Clearly, he was indirectly referring to his other Trinamool colleagues and members of the party top brass, Madan Mitra and Rajat Majumdar, both of whom are in jail for their alleged involvement in the Ponzi scheme scandal but have been taking time off from prison complaining of various illnesses which have been termed by the media in Bengal as "mysterious". 

But on arrival in Calcutta, instead of heading straight for the CBI office in Salt Lake, he went straight to Nabanna, the Bengal secretariat, to meet his boss, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Something happened in Nabanna between him and Mamata because he virtually stormed out of the office looking disturbed, after less than half an hour, unusual for the CM's former close aide who has been her constant companion since days before the party came to power. 

Insiders revealed that Mamata was extremely displeased with him for squealing to the media in Delhi about his and Mamata's secret meeting with chit fund company boss Sudipta Sen. According to reports, she was so peeved with him for confirming to the Delhi media that a midnight meeting did take place before the general elections in 2014 in Darjeeling District's Delo – in which the Trinamool leaders are understood to have discussed campaign funding – she had her police ignore him on his arrival at Calcutta Airport and the former union rail minister found himself having to search for his car after exiting with "common" passengers as the VIP gates were shut for him. 

At a time when even Sudipta Sen's own kin supposedly deny knowing the man, Mukul's disclosure was like committing political hara-kiri, not just for himself but the party, as far as Mamata is concerned. The truth is that whether Mukul admits it to the media or not, the CBI is going to nail him on such meetings as it did with his colleagues now in jail and not admitting to it is not an option as the CBI is, according to sources, arresting on the basis of discrepancies in statements. And several of those who have been detained or questioned have told the CBI that Mukul had met Sudipta on several occasions and money changed hands. But what if he does not deny it? Will CBI let him go and only call him for questioning? Unlikely, because his not denying it is tantamount to admitting to committing mass scale fraud, which is what the chit fund scandal is all about. 

So looks like it's a catch 22 for Mukul Roy, who came out of Nabanna on the 15th and instead of appearing before the CBI investigators, asked for an extension of 15 days. He was granted one week instead. Mukul has been spending the "extra time" flying to Delhi and allegedly trying to get friendly with BJP top brass (the TMC believes that BJP has got CBI to go after TMC in the chit fund scam, though it was really the Supreme Court which ordered a CBI probe even before BJP came to power in May). He has also prayed in Delhi's Hanuman Mandir where wishes are supposed to come true (though no one knows what exactly he prayed for). And in another wish-fulfilling endeavor, Trinamool MP Idris Ali, went all the way to Ajmer and left a chaddar at the Khwaja's durbaar with prayers for both Mukul Roy and Mamata Banerjee. 

The party is debating whether to appeal to the Supreme Court on stopping CBI from going after it. In the meantime, the clock is ticking and time is slowly running out for Mukul Roy. The next date of appearance is scheduled for January 22. Calcutta is watching. Its future depends on what happens that day, because if Mamata is the face of the Trinamool, Mukul is considered the backbone. If Mukul falls, the future of the Trinamool government in Bengal looks shaky.