File photo: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Looking at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the launch of free WiFi in Kolkata's Park Street last evening, you wouldn't think so. But yesterday was black Thursday for her party. First, its MP Srinjoy Bose, quit the Rajya Sabha and the Trinamool. Significantly, Mr Bose had got bail on Wednesday, 75 days after being arrested in the Saradha scam. Trinamool responded by saying Mr Bose was under pressure from the power at the Centre.
That, curiously, echoed what Ms Banerjee had said about another Trinamool MP Mukul Roy. After being questioned by the CBI last Friday in the Saradha case, Mr Roy had gone to attend Trinamool's core committee meeting at Ms Banerjee's house. And she was reported to have said at the meeting, "BJP is using CBI to pressure Mukul to split the party or go to jail".
Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien says not just Mr Roy, Ms Banerjee had made the same remark about Srinjoy Bose. "At the meeting on January 31, this issue had been discussed for 10 minutes, that Srinjoy Bose and others were under pressure from the powers that be... Also, Bose got bail on Wednesday and resigned Thursday. May be there is some coordination there," he said.
The Opposition also points at another probable reason for Mr Bose quitting Trinamool. His family has a stevedoring business at the Haldia Port. Recently, port operations there have also come under the CBI scanner. Mr Bose, many believe, could not withstand dual pressure: for Saradha and Haldia. The only thing Mr Bose said in a press release, "I have realised politics is not my cup of tea."
Srinjoy Bose apart, bad news came from Supreme Court too. Trinamool and the West Bengal government had pleaded that the top court monitor the CBI probe into Saradha. CBI leaks to media, they claimed, were tarnishing their image. The Supreme Court refused.
Finally, actor Locket Chatterjee, member of Trinamool for over a year and often seen on stage with Mamata Banerjee, also exited the party for the BJP.
"I felt I couldn't work in that party. I was suffocating," Ms Chaterjee said at a press conference at the BJP office. "Also, I felt, many of us are not involved in the Saradha scam. But there is a general suspicion about all of us. If there is corruption, why should we share the blame? Why should we pay for that sin?"
The Opposition is waiting for more to befall the Trinamool. "Let TMC be prepared. More shocks are coming, this is just the beginning," said CPM MP Md Salim.