Mamata Banerjee Backs Protests At The CBI Headquarters

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was visibly upset when two of her ministers, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, were arrested by the CBI in the Narada bribery case. Through her more than six-hour stakeout at the CBI office in Nizam Palace, the Bengal Chief Minister allegedly said, “The way they were detained without proper process, CBI will have to detain me as well.” As the politicians were apprehended, a large number of Trinamool employees protested outside the residence. They even hurled stones at the paramilitary forces (CRPF), who attempted to control the mob with shields and batons.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has accused the state of “absolute lawlessness and chaos,” citing “consequences.”

Governor in his tweet advised Mamata Banerjee to follow “constitutional norms & rule of law.”

Trinamool Congress MP and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee appealed to the party workers for maintaining peace. In his tweet, he pleaded to the citizens for maintaining peace and to refrain from anything that violates lockdown norms. “We have complete confidence in the justice system, and the fight will be taken in a legal manner,” said MP in his tweet.

In a shocking escalation of the Centre-West Bengal clash that has been developing since Mamata Banerjee’s electoral win, central forces gathered at the homes of the TMC ministers and two other politicians on Monday were brought to the CBI headquarters.

On Monday morning, the CBI had detained West Bengal state ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and a former TMC minister Sovan Chatterjee. These politicians were arrested in relation to the Narada sting investigation, in which they were reportedly caught on tape accepting the monetary bribe.

The West Bengal CM Banerjee stood on a protest at CBI Headquarters from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., seeking the TMC leaders’ release. These politicians were later granted bail by the honorable court.

Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari, the two former Trinamool politicians were also accused of taking bribes, reported caught on camera, they have recently switched sides to the BJP. Both were Trinamool leaders at the time of the incident, but their arrest was never authorized. After contesting the election, they are now BJP MLAs.

After Mamata Banerjee secured a third consecutive mandate, the Governor had recently sworn in Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee as members of Mamata Banerjee’s new cabinet.

The TMC and other political parties have questioned the timings of these arrests that occurred during Bengal’s Covid surge and shortly after Mamata Banerjee’s stunning victory in elections which has turned into a fierce prestige battle between her and the BJP-NDA led central government.

All the arrested politicians are accused of taking INR 4 to 5 lakh as bribes in a sting operation conducted by the Narada news agency in 2014.

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