West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday defended her government in the alleged ration scam and blamed the previous Left Front government for the mess in the public distribution system in the State.
The Chief Minister while speaking to journalists at the State Secretariat said that the arrested West Bengal Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick will defend himself legally and she wishes him good health. Ms. Banerjee also evaded a question on the fate of the Minister and said that the party will take a call later.
On October 26, when raids were going on at the house of the Minister, the Chief Minister had expressed apprehensions over the health of the Minister and said that if anything happens to Mr. Mallick she will file an FIR against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and BJP government at the Centre. Mr. Mallick was arrested by the ED on October 27 for his alleged involvement in the ration scam.
He is the second Minister after former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee to be arrested for financial wrongdoing. Four MLAs including two Ministers have been arrested since July 2022. Trinamool leadership had removed Partha Chatterjee of his Ministerial and party responsibilities after his arrest by the ED in July 2022. Mr. Chatterjee, an accused in the school job scam remains behind bars.
Defending her government in the alleged ration scam, Ms. Banerjee said that there were about one crore fake ration cards when the Trinamool Congress government came to power in 2011 removing 34 years of Left Front government. She explained that seven to eight years were spent in undoing the wrongs done by the previous regime. The Chief Minister said that her government did not allow anyone to go hungry during the pandemic and that all the ration cards in the State have been digitised.
According to the ED, food grains meant for public distribution system were diverted through various fake companies and the Minister was beneficiaries of the proceeds of the crime.
The arrest of Mr. Mallick has opened a new front for the Opposition to target the Trinamool Congress government. The Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has targeted the State government and said that involvement of Ms. Banerjee need to be investigated
The Trinamool Congress chairperson took a dig at the Leader of Opposition and said that properties including trawlers belonging to certain leaders from Opposition needs to be probed. Mr. Adhikari retorted that unlike the Banerjee family all his properties are declared in an election affidavit.
