Mamata stung before polls

shortcut

It was the last thing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expected — a video purportedly showing her party’s top brass taking bribes — when the assembly polls are virtually round the corner. She has always been extremely vocal about her and the party’s clean image, notwithstanding the Saradha chit fund scam that rocked the state two years ago. In a politically surcharged atmosphere, this is the sort of ammunition that opposition parties would love to fire at the government. Besides the CPI-M and the Congress, which have entered into an unofficial alliance, the video — the veracity of which is yet to be ascertained — has given a new lease of life to Bengal’s marginalised BJP. True, the timing of the release of the video — so close to the polls — has been repeatedly questioned, but the core issue — whether Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party is as honest and transparent as it claims to be — must not be allowed to drown in the cacophony of the government and its political adversaries trading charges.
The allegations that 11 leaders, including the party’s vice president and Baner­jee’s trusted aide Mukul Roy and five members of Parliament, have been caught on camera taking bribes of various amounts from journalists, Mathew Samuel and Angel Abraham of Narada News, a news website, have been referred to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee headed by LK Advani, which will probe the charges. If the video is found doctored, then Banerjee or the people featured in it not only stand vindicated, but also gain tremendously from being victims of a political conspiracy.
They can ride the crest of people’s sympathy for being unnecessarily maligned in front of the nation. But, if the video turns out to be true, it will rock TMC’s boat in ways that even Banerjee as the captain won’t be able to deal with.

Mamata stung before polls

shortcut

It was the last thing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expected a video purportedly showing her partys top brass taking bribes when the assembly polls are virtually round the corner. She has always been extremely vocal about her and the partys clean image, notwithstanding the Saradha chit fund scam that rocked the state two years ago. In a politically surcharged atmosphere, this is the sort of ammunition that opposition parties would love to fire at the government. Besides the CPI-M and the Congress, which have entered into an unofficial alliance, the video the veracity of which is yet to be ascertained has given a new lease of life to Bengals marginalised BJP. True, the timing of the release of the video so close to the polls has been repeatedly questioned, but the core issue whether Banerjees Trinamool Congress party is as honest and transparent as it claims to be must not be allowed to drown in the cacophony of the government and its political adversaries trading charges. The allegations that 11 leaders, including the partys vice president and Banerjees trusted aide Mukul Roy and five members of Parliament, have been caught on camera taking bribes of various amounts from journalists, Mathew Samuel and Angel Abraham of Narada News, a news website, have been referred to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee headed by LK Advani, which will probe the charges. If the video is found doctored, then Banerjee or the people featured in it not only stand vindicated, but also gain tremendously from being victims of a political conspiracy. They can ride the crest of peoples sympathy for being unnecessarily maligned in front of the nation. But, if the video turns out to be true, it will rock TMCs boat in ways that even Banerjee as the captain wont be able to deal with.