Kolkata:
The Bharatiya Janata Party Monday called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee the "corruption queen" and said the Saradha scam will turn out to the "Waterloo" for the ruling Trinamool Congress.
A day after party chief Amit Shah attacked the Trinamool over the Saradha issue, vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Ms Banerjee was patronising criminals and the corrupt, which had made her the "corruption queen".
"The way she had fought against the communists and their anarchy, Mamataji was hailed as a symbol of revolution. But the way she has been patronising and protecting criminals, she has become a corruption queen," Mr Naqvi told media persons here.
"Because of these criminal elements dominating the party, devoted Trinamool workers have become demoralised while there is growing resentment among the masses against this government. The Saradha scam will turn out to be Trinamool's Waterloo," he said.
Signifying the central leadership's greater intent towards cementing its base in the state where it has traditionally been weak, Mr Naqvi said the BJP was the only viable option for the people of West Bengal and urged them to vote for the party in the upcoming bypolls, 2015 municipal polls and the 2016 assembly elections.
Mr Naqvi also rubbished the Trinamool's contention that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the multi-crore scam was politically motivated.
"It's the Congress which used to employ the CBI as a political tool and since the Trinamool is Congress's B team, they too think on the same line. Law is taking its own course and the guilty will be punished," he said.
"As regards the Trinamool, the janata ki adalat (people's court) has already made up its mind to denounce the Trinamool and the verdict will come in 2016 assembly polls," he added.