DM Monitoring
Kolkata: With the Central Bureau of Investigation having begun probe into the death of nine villagers in a massacre in Birbhum district, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to her non-Bharatiya Janata Party counterparts and other opposition leaders against the use of central agencies to “target, harass and corner political opponents across the country for vendetta.”
The massacre, the worst during Banerjee’s rule of Bengal, is believed to have been retribution for the murder of a Trinamool Congress panchayat leader in Bogtui village of Rampurhat in Birbhum. While TMC is powerful in the region, it is divided into factions in several places. The Bogtui killings were reportedly the result of faction wars between two TMC camps.
On March 25, the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI to take over probe into the killings. The court directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Banerjee government to hand over case papers and accused persons arrested by it to the central probe agency.
Our Hon’ble Chairperson @MamataOfficial writes to all Opposition leaders & CMs, expressing her concern over @BJP4India’s direct attacks on Democracy.
BJP has repeatedly attacked the federal structure of our country and now, it’s time to unitedly fight this oppressive regime.
In her letter to opposition leaders, Banerjee has written that the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Central Vigilance Commission and Income Tax Department were being used by the ruling BJP. She cited the “bulldozing” of the Delhi Special Police (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the CVC (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amidst opposition walkouts. The extension of tenures of ED and CBI directors promised by these laws, she wrote, is in blatant violation of a Supreme Court judgment.
Banerjee wrote that the BJP misuses central agencies with “the sole intent of suppressing opposition leaders” and when elections are around the corner. Banerjee wrote that BJP ruled states “get a free pass from these agencies to paint a rosy picture of their hollow governance”. She has also accused BJP of leading a “political witchhunt.”
The Bengal chief minister also commented on the judiciary, adding, “I have the highest regards for the judiciary. At present due to certain biased political interferences, people are not getting justice, which is a dangerous trend in our democracy.”
Banerjee, as the Trinamool Congress chairperson, called for a meeting to discuss strategies to take on the BJP and commit to the cause of a unified and principled opposition that will make way for the “government that the country deserves”.
“I am writing to you to express deep concern over direct attacks on this country’s institutional democracy by the ruling BJP,” the letter dated said. It was shared by the TMC’s official social media handles on Tuesday morning.
“I urge everyone to come together for a meeting to deliberate on way forward at a place as per everyone’s convenience and suitability Let us commit to the cause of a unified and principled opposition that will make way for the government that our country deserves,” she added.
