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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Glare on Mukul’s play, Amit’s miss

Glare on Mukul’s play, Amit’s miss

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published Published on Apr 22, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 22, 2013
-The Telegraph


Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government is scrambling to stitch together a cogent response to the default crisis that is escalating by the hour.

The ruling establishment's agony has been compounded by the close ties several of its ministers, MPs and MLAs had nurtured with the collapsed Saradha Group.

Within Trinamul and the government, questions are being asked about what senior leaders and ministers were doing while the crisis was building up over the past two years.

Other than the brief statement about the decision to arrest the Saradha Group chief, Sudipto Sen, the chief minister has been silent on the issue. Trinamul all-India general secretary Mukul Roy has been made the main troubleshooter as a backlash leapfrogged from the districts to the party's headquarters in Topsia and the chief minister's backyard on Harish Chatterjee Street.

Amid speculation that the party leadership had asked Kunal Ghosh, who was the Saradha CEO, to resign as party MP, Roy has been insisting that no such decision has been taken. "Roy will try to save Ghosh as he knows very well that if heads start rolling for links with these so-called chit funds, his name will also feature in the list," a minister said.

According to him, Trinamul's association with the sham companies was established beyond doubt in the public mind the moment Roy decided to use the party office to hold meetings with agents and depositors of the Saradha Group.

Roy's involvement in trying to find new investors for the Saradha-owned channels and a Bengali newspaper has also drawn flak as the initiative has strengthened the perception of an unbreakable bond between the group and the ruling establishment.

"What is his interest? Why is he keen on saving these organisations floated by these companies?" asked a leader.

Another senior Trinamul leader wondered why the finance minister did not pick up the warning signals and alert the chief minister. "Finance minister Amit Mitra must answer what prevented him from taking steps against these companies," said a senior party leader.

The question is pertinent because the proliferation of such deposit-mobilising companies resulted in a dip in the small savings collection - one of the cheapest sources of funds - and forced the government to tap other expensive sources. Repeated attempts to reach Mitra drew a blank this evening.

Trinamul's association with such firms and the government's inaction in reining them in have been a topic of discussion in party ranks for some time. Some senior leaders - including party MPs Somen Mitra, Subhendu Adhikari and Saugata Roy and minister Sadhan Pande - had publicly warned of the pitfalls.

State minister for consumer affairs and Maniktala MLA Sadhan Pande told The Telegraph that he had sent "three to four complaints" to police through his department secretary after some depositors approached him for redress.

Trinamul sources claimed the chief minister today spoke to a veteran leader in Delhi to explore legislative options to contain the crisis. If the claim is true, the government is showing alacrity that was missing in the past 23 months as it did little to pursue a pending bill with the Centre.

A senior party leader said Mamata has convened an emergency meeting of her senior cabinet colleagues and some department secretaries tomorrow to discuss the possible steps the government can take to reassure the affected people, mostly in rural areas.

"The CM is looking for ways to tackle the crisis and has asked for suggestions," the senior leader said.

He said the government was considering two options: a commission to probe how such sham companies mushroomed in the state and an ordinance to crack down on illegal mobilisation of deposits. "A decision may be taken tomorrow and may be announced by the chief minister herself," he added.

However, it was not clear if such administrative measures would be sufficient to douse the panic and fury sweeping the districts where several poor people are worried about their life savings.

The political leadership's discomfiture tumbled out in the open at today's Trinamul Youth Congress-sponsored rally at Rani Rashmoni Avenue, which was organised as part of building a bigger movement surrounding the attack on finance minister Mitra in Delhi.

Three prominent speakers - MPs Mukul Roy and Subhendu Adhikari and industries minister Partha Chatterjee - spent more time trying to distance the party and the government from the Saradha Group and other such companies and promising stern action against the offenders than on the attack on Mitra.

Such consternation was coming under strain as Sen, the absconding Saradha chief, has not yet been arrested and Trinamul was fighting suggestions that the party knows the whereabouts of the fugitive.

The Opposition has zeroed in on that weak spot of the government. Former finance minister Asim Dasgupta asked a news conference during the day: "Why isn't the government arresting the owner of the company? If the state agencies can't, why isn't the government getting in touch with the central agencies?"

Mamata had announced on Thursday that efforts were being made to arrest Sen.

The issue has already assumed wider proportions with reports of suicides trickling in. "Thank God that the panchayat polls are not being held now. Had this dam burst ahead of the polls, we would have had to face serious political consequences," said a minister.

In that sense, the chief minister may like to thank Mira Pande, the state election commissioner who had refused to buckle under pressure. Had Pande accepted the dates originally notified by the state government, the first round of panchayat polls would have been held this Friday.

All the Opposition parties in Bengal - the CPM, the Congress and the BJP - have accused the Trinamul leadership of condoning the mushrooming of companies that illegally mobilised deposits.


The Telegraph, 22 April, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130422/jsp/frontpage/story_16812727.jsp#.UXTjsUrcing


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