Distancing the Trinamool Congress from the chit fund scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday put the blame on the Opposition.
Ms. Banerjee claimed that “she was not God” to know about the antecedents of companies and urged the people to forget the “political angle” in the issue.
Faced with questions about the alleged involvement of her party MPs with the company operating the “chit funds,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists that “personal questions” could not be asked of her.
She charged them with “trying to shield the previous Left Front government and the Congress government at the Centre.”
“You should not ask any personal question… Yes, it is a personal question ... They were not party MPs when they worked with the organisation,” the Chief Minister said.
Moments later, she said if any party MP was found to be involved in the scam the law would take its course.
She claimed that journalists were planted to ask such questions and that she was interested in crores of people not “individuals.”
Even as she admitted that protests by agents and depositors duped by the company turned out to be a “law and order problem,” she blamed the previous Left Front government and the UPA government at the Centre for the problem.
“It is not a crisis. Some people have been duped by others,” she said.
“I would appeal to the common people … what has gone has gone [those who have lost their savings have lost it]. Please be patient, and allow us to bring in the legislation.”
Only three months ago the State government began an inquiry after it received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, she said. Soon after receiving the letter, she wrote to the Centre to return the earlier legislation so that the government could issue an ordinance in this case.
