KOLKATA: A day after her party’s secretary general Partha Chatterjee was grilled by the CBI in connection with an alleged recruitment scam in schools, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee threatened to expose alleged irregularities in state government jobs during the Left Front regime.
"The CPI(M) would issue hand-written chits which used to be enough to get government jobs. I have not disclosed it till date showing my political courtesy. From now on, I will unfold the chapters one after another," Mamata said on Thursday while addressing a rally in Jhargram, which once became the epicentre of the Maoist movement in Jungle Mahal.
Political observers in the state noted that Mamata’s threat about the alleged scam in government jobs during the Left Front’s tenure which ended 11 years ago comes on the heels of the ongoing controversy related to alleged irregularities in recruitment in schools which the CPI(M) is trying to use as a political tool against the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Without mentioning the CBI probe into the alleged recruitment scam, which is said to have embarrassed the ruling party, the Bengal CM hit out at the BJP-led Centre alleging it is using the central agencies after failing to win the 2021 Assembly elections. "Now they are eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They are using the central agencies vindictively. It is because the BJP failed to win the Assembly elections in Bengal. Now they are trying to achieve their political goals by using the agencies. The mandate given by the electorate in Bengal in the Assembly polls made it clear that they (BJP) have no hope in 2024," she said.
Launching a blistering attack on both the CPI(M) and BJP, Mamata accused the two parties of being allies in Bengal politics. "They are two brothers in West Bengal’s politics and Bengal’s electorate is aware of it. These two parties are trying to prevent us from doing development work. But the TMC cannot be stopped. We will give a befitting reply in the coming elections," she said.
The rise of the BJP in Bengal is said to be at the expense of the CPI(M)’s vote-bank. A considerable chunk of the electorate, who had been loyal to the communist party, decided to support the BJP aiming to derail Mamata’s government in the 2021 Assembly elections. The saffron camp took its tally from three to 77 in the 294-seat Assembly but the target was left unachieved.