The Shiv Sena on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of orchestrating the stand-off between the Central Bureau of Investigation and the West Bengal government for political gains, PTI reported.
The Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, said the situation in Kolkata was a “threat to democracy”. The party claimed the BJP was going to fall short by 100 Lok Sabha seats in North India and Maharashtra in the General Elections.
“To fill the gap, the BJP has laid its hopes on states like West Bengal to win 10 to 15 seats...all this is being orchestrated with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls,” it alleged.
The party said no one involved in the Saradha chit fund scam should be spared. But “how does the CBI look at the ‘cheat India’ matter which has been going on for the last four-and-a-half years?” it asked. The Shiv Sena said Narendra Modi should deal with the matter as prime minister and not as a BJP leader.
The Sena said it has differences with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party but she is “indeed hitting back at the Centre with equal force”.
“The political war happening in West Bengal is a sign of new anarchy...” the party said, according to ANI. “Courts, Reserve Bank of India, Niti Aayog and CBI have all lost their prestige in the past few years. The plight of these institutions has become similar to that of a caged parrot. How can you trust them? CBI has been half dead since last few years.”
The stand-off between the state and the investigation agency began after a CBI team reached Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s home on Sunday evening to question him in connection with two Ponzi scams. Police officials stopped them and detained five members of the team for around two hours. Banerjee came out in Kumar’s support and called the CBI action an attempted by the Centre.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the CBI not to take coercive action against Kumar, including arresting him, but asked him to cooperate with the CBI.Mamata Banerjee has been on a sit-in protest since Sunday, claiming the CBI’s action was an assault on the state’s autonomy.
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