Only minutes after the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) second-in-command Mukul Roy was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the political reactions started to pour in. The ruling party in Bengal TMC reacted strongly, calling CBI a “political tool” of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The nasty ploy of using CBI as a political tool by BJP continues,” said party’s M.P and Rajya Sabha M.P and spokesperson Derek O’Brien and added: “They (BJP) could not fight us politically in Bengal in Lok Sabha elections, so now these dirty tactics months before corporation elections. We will fight them – strongly, politically.”
Describing the immediate political reactions of the BJP as an act of “blatant vindictiveness” Mr O’Brien further said: “The so-called summons have not yet reached and BJP honchos are already giving bytes.”
“Is the CBI being run by Narendra Modi’s office? Or by Amit Shah at BJP HQ?” Mr. O’Brien asked.
The State president of the BJP, Rahul Sinha defined the summons to the TMC M.P. as an “expected move” by the CBI, while the leaders of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Congress targeted Mukul Roy as the “kingpin of the Saradha scam.”
TMC, however, observed the move by the CBI as a “deliberate bid” to “finish all regional parties.”
“…they are doing this against many states. Trinamool functioned almost as the main Opposition party in Parliament. By doing this the BJP hopes to silence us. This devious strategy of theirs will not succeed, because, we do not succumb. We fight politically,” Mr O’Brian said in a hurriedly scribbled message on social media.
Mukul Roy summoned
Earlier, the CBI summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam.
Mr. Roy has been asked to appear before the CBI officers, who are investigating the scam, by the end of the week.
The CBI has sent a letter summoning TMC MP’s official residence in Delhi.
Earlier, an e-mail was sent to MP’s office for “clarifying the address” of Mr. Roy’s residence where the formal notice could be sent. “Upon receiving the clarification, the letter was sent MP’s residence in Delhi,” sources told The Hindu.
Till recently, TMC’s general secretary Mukul Roy was considered to be the second most important person in the party. He was often described as the “eyes and ears” of the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and almost single-handedly managing 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. Additionally, Ms. Banerjee was promoting her nephew Abhisek Banerjee in recent months, fuelling speculation that TMC leadership is expecting CBI to summon Mukul Roy.
In December 2014, another powerful TMC organiser and Transport Minister, Madan Mitra was summoned and arrested by the central agency. The party is now hoping that the second-in-command will only be grilled and not arrested by the CBI.
