Narada accused in Didi’s new team

Two of the four former ministers of the Mamata Banerjee ministry took oath on Monday - hours after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar accorded sanction for prosecution to the CBI in the alleged Narada sting tapes cases where several politicians and a high-ranked police officer accepting cash bribes in exchange for providing unofficial favours to a company.

The sanction attracted controversy after Dhankhar, on a request by the CBI, sanctioned the prosecution of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, all of them ministers during the time of the alleged commission of a crime that came to light in the purported Narada sting tapes. Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim have been sworn in as cabinet ministers in the newly formed Mamata Banerjee government. Another accused Madan Mitra has won the election and Sovon Chatterjee has left the TMC to join the BJP and then left the BJP too following differences with the party leadership.

"I accorded sanction for prosecution because the CBI sought the same. I went through the documentation. There seems to be some confusion regarding some reports created by the media that the governor has accorded sanctions for the members of the assembly. I am not on that. Those people whose sanctions were accorded at the relevant time as per CBI for holding the positions of ministers," Dhankhar told the media after the oath taking ceremony in Raj Bhawan on Monday.

Suvendu new Oppn leader

BJP leader and Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari on Monday was unanimously elected as Leader of BJP Legislative Party.