The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday criticised Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly changing his stance on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s role in the Saradha chit fund case. The saffron party “diagnosed” him with multiple personality disorder and wished him a “speedy recovery”.
The BJP tweeted its snarky post after the Congress chief posted a statement in solidarity with Banerjee who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah of plotting a coup.
She began the “Save the Constitution” protest on Kolkata’s Esplanade on Sunday to oppose attempts made by Central Bureau of Investigation officials to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with Rose Valley and Saradha scams. The CBI accused Kumar of destroying evidence in the Saradha chit fund case and said he had failed to cooperate with the investigation. The Supreme Court will hear the investigating agency’s plea on the matter on Tuesday.
The BJP shared Gandhi’s tweets from 2014 and 2016 where he had accused the West Bengal chief minister of protecting the accused in the Saradha chit fund scam.
On Sunday, Gandhi supported Banerjee’s claims. “The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on India’s institutions by Mr Modi and the BJP,” Gandhi tweeted. “The entire opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces.”
‘Coalition of the corrupt,’ says Ravi Shankar Prasad
Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned why the Kolkata Police Commissioner was sitting on dharna with politicians. He claimed the Opposition parties coming together is a “coalition of the corrupt to save each other”.
“It is important to be recalled today that some Leftist supporters and some Congress supporters had gone to the Supreme Court for a CBI investigation, and the court on May 9, 2014, had directed that entire Ponzi schemes – Narada, Sarada, Rose Valley – be investigated by the CBI,” Prasad told reporters.
The Union minister referred to Gandhi’s statement made on May 8, 2014, saying “Rs 20 lakh people lost their money in chit fund scam in West Bengal”. “Narada, Sarada scams happened before the BJP took to power in 2014, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI investigation too before the BJP came to power..and the petitioners in this matter were supporters of the Congress and Left,” Prasad said.
Prasad questioned why Banerjee chose to protest against the questioning of the commissioner but not when Madan Mitra, who was a minister in the Trinamool Congress government, was arrested or when minister Sudip Bandhopadhyay was jailed.
Union Minister Babul Supriyo demanded an imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal.
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