Siddharth Nath Singh, BJP’s observer in Bengal, described the CBI’s summon to the TMC general secretary as a “great jolt to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.” He added, “It is said that Mr. Roy was the last man whom Saradha Group owner Sudipta Sen met before he fled to Kashmir. So from this perspective also it is a very significant summon by the CBI. What I said earlier in 2015 that it will be “bhag Mukul bhag (Run Mukul Run) is proving to be true now.”
Welcoming the CBI’s decision to summon Mr. Roy, senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said, “The summon has proved that the CBI probe is heading in the right direction. Despite its efforts, the ruling party in Bengal could not stop the CBI probe in the Saradha scam,” said Mr. Mannan whose PIL resulted in the Supreme Court handing over the probe to the CBI. Referring to Ms. Banerjee’s reported comment at a party meeting in May 2013 “Kunal chor? Madan chor? Tumpai ( TMC Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose) chor? Mukul chor? Aami chor? Sabai chor? Baki ra shob sadhu (Is Kunal a thief? Is Madan a thief? Is Tumpai a thief? Is Mukul a thief? Am I a thief? Are all of us thieves? And the rest are saints)!” Mr. Mannan said that “the first four persons already got caught. But I cannot tell whether the same will happen to the last one (Ms. Banerjee).”
Referring to Mr. Roy, CPI (M) Polit Bureau Member and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury said “ If one more Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC is summoned for questioning please don’t get intimidated by the position. Law must take its own course. No crime should not go unpunished.” Senior CPI-M leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya demanded that Mr. Roy be “arrested.”
Until recently, Mr. Roy was considered to be the second most important leader in TMC. He was often described as the “eyes and ears” of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and almost single-handedly managed the organisation. However, after the recent spate of arrests of top TMC leaders, Ms. Banerjee was publicly distancing herself from her MP Mr. Roy who made very few public appearances along with the Chief Minister. He was absent from the biggest business summit hosted by TMC-led government last week in the city.
What I said earlier in 2015 it will be “b’hag Mukul bhag is proving to be true now’
