TMC firefights as rage spreads across Bengal.
Faced with statewide protests outside residences of a number of its leaders over the issue of "cut money", the TMC on Sunday accused the media of misreporting recent interactions between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the elected representatives of the party.
It said "99.99 per cent" of party functionaries were hard-working and committed to work for the benefit of the people.
TMC leaders at the municipal and panchayat levels have been facing public ire in the districts of Birbhum, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan, Malda, Purulia, Nadia, West Midnapore and Bankura.
"A certain section of media is misreporting on the recently-held interactions between the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress (Mamata) with party functionaries and the elected representatives," TMC general secretary Partha Chatterjee said in a statement.
"The chairperson reiterated her advice for them to work tirelessly for the welfare of the people and ensure that all funds allocated for public welfare schemes are utilised in the most productive manner possible," Chatterjee said.
The leader alleged that some people from different political parties were sullying the name of the TMC by indulging in corruption and unfair practices, adding that they would will be dealt with severely.
Chatterjee said only a few members from panchayats and municipalities had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party because of their "ulterior motives and vested interests". "They have done this with the hope that their misdeeds and crimes will be washed away," he said.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen, too, has recently faced allegations of seeking "cut money" from a realtor in north Kolkata. Sen has denied the accusation as "baseless and politically-motivated" to malign his reputation.
Banerjee had warned party leaders that those involved in taking "cut money" from government schemes and other corrupt practices would be put behind bars.
"Our party supremo has warned us against getting involved in corruption and told us to return cut money if we had taken any from the people. She has told us if anyone is found seeking cut money to provide benefits from government schemes, he or she will be arrested," a senior TMC leader said.
With PTI inputs
1. What did Mamata Banerjee say?
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At a recent meeting with TMC councillors, Banerjee had said: "I do not want to keep thieves in my party. If I take action they will join some other party. Some leaders are claiming 25-per cent commission for providing housing grants to the poor. This should stop immediately. Return the money if any of you have taken it." Her diktat did not go down well with the rank and file of the party as several councillors and party leaders questioned the directive.
"It's a sort of insult. If we had taken any cut money then we had also given a major chunk of it to top party leaders. What about that? Will they also return that money?" asked a senior TMC leader from Nadia district.
Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy said Banerjee should have initiated measures to stop the practice much earlier.
"A person who has taken cut money directly is only the front man. There are others who are behind him. They have also taken their share. So the money has to be returned according to this chain," Roy had said.
The BJP, Congress and the CPI(M) had mocked the ruling party over the protests and said the "corruption of TMC leaders" was now out in open.
"It was a well-known open secret that the TMC seeks cut money and commission. Now, the masses are protesting against it," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.
Congress state president Somen Mitra demanded that all the TMC leaders, including elected representatives, should make public the amount of assets they have.
2. TMC MP Satabdi Roy's dissent
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At a time, when Mamata Banerjee is coming down hard on local TMC leaders for taking what’s colloquially called ‘cut money’, a Trinamool MP has publicly spoken about the ‘chaos’ due to Mamata’s recent diktat.
Satabdi Roy wondered if Didi’s diktat applied to the ‘big fish’ as well.
In comments that will leave Banerjee embarrassed, Satabdi Roy was a two-time Birbhum MP was quoted saying by a leading Kolkata daily: “ “Didi should pay attention to this. It shouldn’t happen that those who took two per cent, one per cent, are stopped from taking (cuts) while those taking more, their percentage increases even more. “That will increase the confusion within the party. Nobody is getting — but somebody is getting more…. Ultimately cut money, the total sum, stays the same — that situation should not arise. Didi should keep an eye on that.”
Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy said Banerjee should have initiated measures to stop the practice much earlier.
"A person who has taken cut money directly, is only the front man. There are others who are behind him. They have also taken their share, so the money has to be returned according to this chain," Roy said in New Delhi Thursday.
She stressed that steps ought to have been taken much earlier, and claimed that what was taken ‘chain-wise’ ought to be retained ‘chain-wise’.
The BJP was obviously thrilled to bits with the TMC infighting and Dilip Ghosh claimed that the Bengal CM had said it ‘without thinking’.
3. Song on cut money goes viral
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A song by Bengali pop singer Nachiketa has gone viral in Bengal in which he has warned those who took ‘cut money’ – the colloquial term in Bengal for leaders taking cutbacks.
The song doesn’t reference any party but does have a reference to dada and didimoni. Banerjee is popularly referred to as Didi.
Union Minister and BJP leader and former Bollywood singer Babul Supriyo appeared to enjoy the lyrics as he shared it on Twitter calling it the perfect ‘satire’
মানুষের মনের কথা গানের মাধ্যমে সঠিক মাত্রার 'Sattire’-এর তড়কা লাগিয়ে সকলের সামনে নিয়ে আসার জন্য নচিকেতা-দাকে আমার অশেষ ধন্যবাদ pic.twitter.com/eBrLP31K3X
— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) June 22, 2019
