CBI is Conspiracy Bureau of India, says Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Urging President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene to “save” the people from the “brink of disaster” following demonetisation, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government had turned the CBI into the “Conspiracy Bureau of India”.

“Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now Conspiracy Bureau of India and by using the investigation agency, the Centre is practically trying to abolish all forms of opposition. The CBI, Enforcement Directorate and other investigating agencies are being used to hatch conspiracies to silence protests. An atmosphere of terror is created whenever somebody raises his or her voice against the Centre,” she said, referring to the agency’s arrest of MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Paul in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

“I have been an MP for 23 years and have seen many governments. I have seen the rise and fall of so many governments. But I have never seen any government using (Central) agencies to stifle the voice of opposition. He has the power he can arrest all of us and drag us to different places like Odisha, Delhi or Uttar Pradesh. It does not matter. I also want to see how many prisons can he make. But Modi Babu, have you thought how people will treat you when you are no longer in power,” she said in Burdwan while inaugurating the ‘Mati Utsav’ (Soil Festival).

“I urge the President, who is the Constitutional head of the country, that if some government, through arbitrary decisions, takes the country to the brink of disaster, as the protector of the Constitution, give protection to the people and save them,” she said.

Urging the common people to rise in protest, the chief minister said, “There will be some hardship, but someone has to bell the cat. Trinamul Congress will do that. We will take care of all the hardships that may befall us.”

She also lashed out at the PM for pitching for a cashless India. “ In 92 per cent areas of rural India, people cannot even withdraw their own money from banks because 40 per cent of the banks do not have money. So will people eat plastic money?” she asked.