BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh In an embarrassment to the BJP, its national vice-president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday alleged that some ruling Trinamool Congress leaders had “setting with CBI officers” that prompted the Union Finance Ministry to send Enforcement Directorate officials to probe corruption cases in West Bengal.
“Some CBI officials have sold themselves. Some in lakhs and some in crores. It was because of this understanding between some CBI officers and the TMC that the probes into the coal scam, cattle smuggling case and school jobs irregularities were not yielding any results. The investigations were dragging on for months. This was the reason some of the CBI officers were shunted out of West Bengal,” said Ghosh addressing an exhibition-cum-discussion on ‘Terror of Partition’ organised by the Union Ministry of Culture at the ICCR here.
“Then the ED started working on the direction of the Finance Ministry. The dose of the medicine has been raised. Now, Trinamool leaders are afraid because ED officials cannot be ‘set’ like CBI. ED cannot be tamed like a pet dog,” said the BJP Lok Sabha MP from the Medinipur constituency. Noting that the investigations have got momentum with the arrest of bigwigs as the ED stepped in, Ghosh said the “end of Mamata Banerjee has begun. ED will keep biting the guilty. It cannot be put into submission as a pet dog, which will turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of those who try to tame it.”
The BJP state unit leaders have maintained a distance from the ongoing CBI and ED investigations in the alleged scams in West Bengal, saying the probes were ordered by the court.
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Several BJP leaders, on condition of anonymity, said that Ghosh’s remarks have pushed the party into an uncomfortable position.
Party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya, however, said, “Dilip Ghosh is our MP and very responsible and respected leader. He is very impulsive and communicates with people in a very local language and tone. He has said what he realised from his experience, but he has no intention to hurt anybody. That much I can say.”
Targeting the BJP, Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said “CBI is under Union Home Minister Amit Shah. So, by raising such questions about the CBI, is Dilip Ghosh pointing a finger at the BJP-ruled Centre? Or by saying that CBI officials have a setting, is Dilip Ghosh pointing a finger at a leader within his party? Did he mean the exclusion of Opposition leader Subhendu Adhikari from the purview of the investigation?”
TMC has been alleging that though CBI arrested their four leaders in the Narada case, the agency excluded Adhikari who has the same allegation of taking bribes. On May 31, the BJP “censored” Dilip Ghosh for making the state leadership uncomfortable with his statements against the party.