Mamata's woes deepen
Mamata Banerjee couldn't have expected her anti-Centre rhetoric in New Delhi to fizzle out so fast. The arrest of Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose on Friday for the massive Saradha chit fund scandal has sowed panic in her ranks.
The trust deficit is spreading among the ranks fast. The question is how will Mamata tide over the rising no-confidence on her administration? Trinamool leaders would love to rubbish this as a media construct, far removed from ground reality. If that was so, BJP wouldn't have bagged 17% votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, leaving Trinamool lagging in many city wards. No wonder, Mamata sensed the public mood and proposed to go along with Congress and Left against what she calls the "danga gurus" (BJP).
Given the public mood, Mamata has her own compulsions. With her party's credibility getting a severe jolt in the Saradha scam, the Trinamool chief faces a challenge she never faced before — keeping her flock together. This explains why she threw her weight behind Mukul Roy and Madan Mitra, two of her graft-tainted lawmakers, even after initially distancing herself from them. According to Trinamool insiders, Mamata was forced to give a clean chit to Mukul and Madan after she got the hint that as many as 20 Trinamool councillors in Kolkata Municipal Corporation are having other thoughts before civic polls sometime next year.Some of these councillors are already in touch with BJP and may change loyalties any day.
The desperation was showing in Mamata's speech on Friday. "When the incident took place what was your CBI doing, your Sebi doing and even RBI? Chit fund isn't within the state's ambit. Nowadays I see those who cheated people, like the Saradha Group who cheated people, are not getting back their money. Instead the focus is on who cheated Saradha," Mamata thundered at a party workers' conference in Kalyani.
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