On Thursday (24th November), West Bengal’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee attended a TMC party workers’ and leaders’ meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. The Trinamool Congress Party supremo launched an attack against the BJP in her speech. Mamata Banerjee issued threats to the Bharatiya Janata Party as she said ‘If they arrest our four, we will arrest eight of their leaders’.
Defending her party leaders who have been arrested by the central agencies in connection with various corruption cases, Mamata Banerjee said, “I don’t believe that they are thieves. Four of our MLAs have been sent to jail. They think by doing this they will be able to reduce our numbers. From here, I am making this announcement that if they arrest our four, we will arrest eight of their leaders.”
Mamata Banerjee added, “You are laughing as our party leaders Anubrata Mandal, Partha Chatterjee, Manik Bhattacharya, Jyoti Priya Mallick and others who are in jail. In the future, when you don’t have power, you’ll be in jail.”
In October 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested TMC minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in relation to the purported Public Distribution System scam. In the previous year, central agencies arrested Minister Partha Chatterjee, along with party MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha, linked to the school jobs scam. Additionally, prominent TMC figure Anubrata Mondal is currently incarcerated in Tihar jail due to his alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling case.
With heads held high, we shall fight!
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) November 23, 2023
Today, Hon’ble Chairperson Smt @MamataOfficial addressed an Adhiveshan at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
She reaffirmed our strong resolve to oust all oppressive forces and herald a new era of democracy, development, and growth in the nation. pic.twitter.com/eO5ULhxun8
Mamata Banerjee went on to defend her partners in the I.N.D.I. alliance including Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Rajasthan’s chief minister Congress leader Ashok Gehlot. She said, “You feel like you will do anything because you are in power at the Centre. What you are doing against Trinamool Congress, Arvind Kejriwal and son of Ashok Gehlot, you will suffer the same fate. It will be the same officers who will come after you once you are out of power.”
Banerjee claimed that the Central government is expected to last for another three months as the general elections approach. She implied that the government would not continue after that because the NDA would lose the elections. She said, “Central agencies targeting Opposition leaders at present will go after the BJP following the 2024 elections… This government at the Centre is there for three more months”
Mamata Banerjee suggested that the responsibility for curbing incidents of cattle and coal smuggling rests with the central government, as its agencies are accountable for the production and secure storage of dry fuel, as well as guarding the international border.
Notably, various leaders from the TMC have faced accusations from central agencies regarding their alleged involvement in coal and cattle smuggling. Abhishek Banerjee, TMC’s second-in-command and nephew of Mamata Banerjee, along with his family members, has been interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate about the coal scam.
Banerjee insinuated that the government led by the BJP aims to eliminate reservations, and she voiced her opposition to any such initiative. She said, “The BJP is also against the reservation for minorities, but we will bring them under the system through OBC quota.”
