Mamata turning to parties like Sena in bid to escape CBI: Abdul Mannan

Kolkata: Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Abdul Mannan on Wednesday slammed chief minister Mamata Banerjee for joining hands with Shiv Sena, a constituent of the NDA at the Centre, by organising a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

According to Mr Mannan, Ms Banerjee was desperate to seek support from other political parties after her own Trinamul Congress was “badly hurt” by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

“A lot of black money hoarders, including TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, have been hit with the demonetisation. She is furious because the money generated by her party leaders from Saradha, Narada and syndicates have been invalidated. Now, she is using the plight of the common man to fight her own battle. To pursue her own interests, she is seeking help from other political parties,” Mr Mannan alleged.

He said the chief minister was desperate to save her party leaders once the Supreme Court began sending notices to them after judging them as beneficiaries of the Saradha scam.

“She is desperate to escape from the CBI. When no other political party gave support to her, she joined hands with Shiv Sena, which is the only linguistic communal party in the country. She is sacrificing the secular fabrics of our state by joining hands with a communal party. This is shameful,” he said.

Echoing the view, CPI(M) MLA Sujan Chakrabarty said, “Ms Banerjee has been protesting the note ban because  TMC has been badly affected by the move. She wants to safeguard the Saradha money and will go to any extend to do that.”