Trinamool feels the sting: Leaders accused of corruption

NEW DELHI/ KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress MPs and leaders were allegedly caught accepting bribes in a purported media sting operation released on Monday, igniting a wave of condemnation from political opponents a fortnight before the West Bengal assembly polls.

In the video, senior Trinamool leaders such as Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy, Sultan Ahmed, Bengal ministers such as Subrata Mukherjee ( rural development and panchayati raj) and Kolkata mayor Shovan Chatterjee are purportedly shown taking cash in return for promising to lobby for a fictitious firm.

But the sting operation – conducted over a span of two years by naradanews. com – didn’t name or refer to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee anywhere. The authenticity of the tape could not be independently verified by HT. The video immediately became a heated poll issue in the six-phase assembly polls beginning April 4, where the Trinamool Congress is fighting against an informal Left- Congress alliance, and a spirited BJP determined to improve on an impressive Lok Sabha performance.

“Mamata Banerjee must step down immediately. She has no business to remain the chief minister even for the few days before the elections,” said BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh. The BJP has also written to the CBI director for an investigation, he added. Senior Congress leader Manas Bhuniya said the party will approach the election commission to bar those allegedly shown in the video from the upcoming polls.

“It is shameful that this party is still in power. They have looted thousands of crores of people’s money. ECI should look into the matter,” said CPI (M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra in a campaign rally. But Trinamool spokesperson Derek O’ Brien and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy described the video as doctored and part of a political conspiracy. “We are a transparent party.... We will take legal action,” remarked O’ Brien.

Speaking at a rally in north Bengal, Banerjee didn’t directly refer to the video but said a “smear campaign” to paint Trinamool leaders as “thieves” wont work.

Earlier in the day, the editor of Naradanews. com, Mathew Samuel, said in Delhi the sting operation began before the 2014 general elections and was con- cluded in January. “We floated a fictitious firm called Impex consultancy and approached all these leaders asking for help in several fictitious projects,” Samuel said.

The video pu r p o r t e d ly showed a total of 11 Trinamool leaders and one police officer taking Rs 73 lakh. Mukul Roy, Trinamool vice-president and key strategist, could not be seen taking any money.

The tape, however, purportedly captured several former superintendent of Burdwan HMS Meerza, allegedly accepting cash worth between ` 5 and ` 7 lakh, and boasting about his ties with Roy. Samuel said he spent close to 85 lakh in bribing Trinamool leaders and said the cash to fund the sting operation came from NRI businessmen from Kerala. Asked why the tape was released ahead of the assembly elections, Samuel said the operation was concluded recently and denied any motive behind the expose.