Trinamool Congress MPs walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday after accusing the Centre of indulging in “politics of vendetta”, reported PTI. Party spokesperson Derek O’Brien claimed the central government was harassing TMC members for opposing the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
O’Brien pointed out that the arrest of Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay (pictured above) was an act of political vengeance by the Bharatiya Janata Party. “This is a very serious issue. We may have political differences on issues, but this is not done,” he added.
However, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that investigative agencies had arrested Bandhopadhyay after his name cropped up in connection with a chit fund scam. There was no political vendetta against anybody, said Naqvi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested Bandhyopadhyay on January 3 in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The CBI had earlier accused Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu and three others of defrauding investors from across the country of more than Rs 17,000 crore. The scam is being investigated by the CBI as part of its larger investigation into several national chit fund scandals.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has maintained that her party was being targeted for their opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move. Bandhyopadhyay had also held that the allegations against him were baseless and a result of political vendetta.
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