Chit fund: Didi blames Centre

Says She Did Not Know What Saradha Was Up To Till 3 Months Ago

Kolkata: When chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided to speak on the Saradha Group bust on Monday, it was a great opportunity to soothe the lakhs of families ruined by the alleged scam. They would have expected words of hope. Or just kind words. But what they saw was a CM on the counter-attack. And what they heard was a strong defence of her partymen, some of whom had links with Saradha, and a strident onslaught on the CPM and the Centre for the mess.

Mamata said her government did not have a clue about the money laundering crisis until a letter from the Sebi, with a CBI report, reached Bidhannagar police after April 15. She blamed the CPM for drafting a weak anti-chit-fund bill and the Centre for not using its powers to stop Saradha from taking money from people.

The CM announced a double-pronged probe — by a special investigation team under the DGP and an inquiry commission under Justice (retd) Shyamal Sen.

Mamata repeatedly claimed that the state government cannot take action on its own because of a “flaw” during the Left regime. “Little can be done unless the Centre sends back the bill that the Left Front government had sent for Presidential consent in 2003,” the CM said.

The CM lost her cool when asked about the role of some Trinamool MPs. “One can’t blame people who worked for the company. The CPM is raising this issue but I have details of how many Page 1 advertisements Ganashakti received from this company. They got the most advertisements,” she said.

She also claimed that she was not aware of what the Saradha Group was up to till about three months ago.

TMC hand-in-glove with group companies: CPM
New Delhi:In search of issues to put the Trinamool government on the mat, the CPM on Monday said the ruling party in West Bengal is hand-in-glove with chit-fund companies that have looted the poor people and caused a huge crisis in the state.

The CPM said it has been warning the Centre for long about the impending crisis. Sitaram Yechury said a delegation of Left MPs had met the PM last December and apprised him of the situation.Basudeb Acharia, CPM leader in the LS, said most of the chit-fund companies have close relations with the TMC. He said that the brand ambassador of the Saradha Group was a Trinamool MP. TNN
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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