: Ahead of the winter session of Parliament, the BJP and the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) are at loggerheads over Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely’s criticism of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in relation to her allegation against the Centre regarding the Saradha scam.
Mr. Jaitely termed Ms. Banerjee’s charges as “unfortunate,” in Delhi on Sunday. He has reportedly alleged that some persons associated with the AITC have made monetary gains from Ponzi schemes.
On Saturday, Ms. Banerjee alleged that the BJP was trying to reduce her party’s strength in the Rajya Sabha in order to get important bills passed.
In a statement, AITC spokesperson Derek O’Brien raised questions about Mr. Jaitely’s knowledge of Bengal. He questioned the source of BJP’s campaign expenditure in the general elections.
“How did the BJP raise billions of dollars that it spent during the Lok Sabha elections? How much money was spent on Maharashtra and Haryana elections?” asked Mr. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien expressed doubts about the source of funding for the campaigning in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir.
Taking a dig at the BJP led Union Government’s claim of bringing back black money stashed away abroad, Mr. O’Brien said that if the amount of black money spent by the BJP comes to light then “the party (BJP) will get black-listed.” The AITC has also questioned the source of the expenditure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah’s “over-the-top” trips for election campaigns.
As for the BJP’s allegation of AITC leaders’ involvement in corruption, Mr. O’Brien claimed that the AITC is “one of India’s poorest political parties.”
