Central agencies’ actions in Bengal meant to isolate Mamata from party leaders: Minister

Kolkata, Dec 5 (IANS) The central agency activities in West Bengal are meant to isolate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from other Trinamool Congress leaders, elected representatives, and ministers, a heavyweight member of the state Cabinet said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Participating in a discussion on the “Criminal Justice Delivery System”, Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim said that some people think that by using the central agencies, some people will be scared and move away from the Chief Minister.

“The CBI officials even reached my doorsteps. Do you think that I will also move away from Mamata Banerjee? Never! I will stay with the Chief Minister till my death. Some people have moved away from her, while some have become inactive. But I will never do that,” Hakim said.

BJP legislator Rabindranath Maiti said that actually the fear of being jailed is creating a panic among several leaders in the ruling party and many of them are thinking of quitting the Trinamool.

“In such a situation Hakim made such a statement to be in the good books of the Chief Minister,” Maiti alleged.

Commuting on the Union government’s proposed bills to substitute the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act (IEA), Hakim said that the new bills are proposed to suppress those voices which are criticising the anti-people policies of the Union government.

“This is never acceptable to us,” he said.

Last month only, the Chief Minister wrote a a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging the latter not to rush the proposed bill on substitutions of the IPC, CrPC and IEA.

–IANS

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