This story is from December 19, 2014

Centre using CBI as political tool: Didi

At a time when BJP and Trinamool Congress are engaged in a high-pitched battle for political space in West Bengal, TMC chief and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee spent some hours in Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
Centre using CBI as political tool: Didi
NEW DELHI: At a time when BJP and Trinamool Congress are engaged in a high-pitched battle for political space in West Bengal, TMC chief and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee spent some hours in Parliament on Thursday afternoon. With her party MPs leading the Opposition charge against the Narendra Modi government in Rajya Sabha for a week now, Banerjee minced no words to mount a full blast attack on the ruling BJP.
READ ALSO: BJP says Mamata is pressing panic button
Banerjee, who called on ailing President Pranab Mukherjee, was also invited by him to join a banquet to be hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday for visiting Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

Talking to media outside Parliament house, Mamata accused BJP of pursuing a "political vendetta" against TMC for political gains in the state, referring to the CBI probe in the Saradha scam. Banerjee charged that the investigating agency was being used as a "political tool" by the Centre and vowed to fight it “politically.” “CBI is being used for political vendetta. If you ask me the role of CBI, (it is) A-political vendetta, B-political-vendetta, C-political vendetta,” she said.
READ ALSO: CBI questions Bengal transport minister
She asked her MPs to carry on the protest against the Centre for the remaining days of the winter session, especially on the issues of trying “to bring GST in a forced manner” and also on why the excise duty on petrol and diesel has not come down despite falling prices of international crude.
Mamata asserted that her party had nothing to do with Saradha or any other chit fund in the state. "Saradha (scam) did not take place during our government. From 2001-2006, it happened during the Left Front government. And not only in Bengal, but in Kerala, Tripura, Assam and Odisha. Chit fund is not illegal, but in the name of chit fund, cheating people is an illegal thing," she said.

READ ALSO: CBI arrests Mamata’s close aide and Bengal minister Madan Mitra
Taking on the Centre, Banerjee said, "We are the only party fighting a battle against BJP, which is trying to bulldoze TMC. That (arrest of WB transport minister Madan Mitra) is political vendetta. They (BJP)... are jealous of us (TMC) but democracy cannot be bulldozed or imposed.”
As she sought to defend Mitra, who has been arrested by CBI in connection with the Saradha scam, Banerjee said TMC is the only party that has no role to play in any scam. "If you talk of about our MP (Kunal Ghosh) who was arrested, we gave nominations to three-four journalists as there was no representation from the media. They were not related to our party. TMC has no connection with any scam. Those who talk about scams should see that charity begins at home.”
READ ALSO: CBI may consider shifting of Saradha case probe outside West Bengal
She said there are many cases pending with CBI in which there has not been any outcome. "It (CBI) is not an autonomous body, but a department of the PMO. It should act in public interest.”
"In the Gyaneshwari accident case (of 2010), around 200 people were killed. As the (then) railway minister, I had initiated a CBI inquiry, but nothing happened. In Singur, Rizwanur Rehman case, Nandigram ... nothing has happened? So is the CBI a tool of the government?” she asked.
Banerjee questioned the Centre for not acting against other chit fund scams. “What were RBI and SEBI doing when chit funds were set up? Not just Saradha, why have they not acted against any other chit funds? There is a chit fund called PACL which looted Rs 47000 crore. Why no action has been taken against them,” she asked.
At the Central Hall of Parliament where Banerjee spent a good two hours, she was greeted by BJP leader and parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu. Naidu said that he will meet her when he is Kolkata to discuss “some governance issues and not politics”. Banerjee is learnt to have told him that she would not mind discussing even politics.
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