Amid the political storm of ‘CBI-Kolkata police’ row and Mamata Banerjee taking a rather unusual but aggressive stance, BJP leader and Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said by doing so, Trinamool Congress chief has only tried to project herself as the ‘nucleus’ of India’s opposition.
“It would be a gross error to assume that she did this (Dharna) because of a routine investigation involving a Police Officer. She did it to defocus from other opposition aspirants for the highest office and to project herself as the nucleus of India’s opposition,” Mr Jaitley wrote in a blog posted on Facebook.
Lambasting the Congress President Rahul Gandhi for taking a u-turn on the issue of chit fund scam in West Bengal, he further said: “Curiously, the AICC President somersaulted his position from Saradha being a scam to “shoulder-to-shoulder”support to scamster”.
Mr Jaitley, who is undergoing treatment abroad, also pointed out that – “Interestingly, the first family of Congress where most members are on bail”.
“A non-ideological short-lived coalition of opposition is disaster for India,” he said referring to the efforts being made for unity among various regional parties.
“When Mamata Banerjee decided to sit on a Dharna she received support of many opposition parties who aspire to be in power. Most of them, or their affiliates are today being investigated, prosecuted and in some cases have also been convicted for crimes of corruption,” he wrote.
“Mamata Banerjee’s disproportionate over-reaction to the CBI wanting to interrogate the Kolkata Police Chief has flagged several issues for a public discourse. The most important being that a Kleptocrat’s Club now aspires to capture the reigns of India,” he said.
Mr Jaitley said: “Today the CBI is being brutally prevented by physical force and detention of its officer from investigating a crime legally within its jurisdiction, in the State of West Bengal. It is a textbook illustration of a State Government assaulting Federalism”.
The Union Minister also lashed out at all other opposition leaders trying to back Mamata Banerjee: “More importantly those who have lent support to the West Bengal Dharna are those who are battling serious allegations of economic improprieties, criminal misconduct and even corruption. Can “New India” be ever run by this Kleptocrat’s Club?”
The ensuing elections “will be either Modi Vs. Chaos or Modi Vs. Anarchy” – he said, “Mamata Banerjee’s latest acrobatics are the best evidence of the kind of governance India’s opposition can provide”.(UNI)