West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee—whose Government has been buffeted by a series of corruption scandals surrounding people close to her—came out in full support of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, a day before the Delhi CM faces grilling by the Enforcement Directorate in a liquor scam case.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata yesterday, she said that the BJP-ruled Centre was “targeting” Arvind Kejriwal, and also Ministers in West Bengal in a bid to silence the Opposition before the 2024 General Elections.
When asked about the arrest of her former Food and Supplies Minister and current Forest Minister, Jyotipriya Mallick in a ration scam, Banerjee said: “This is a political question. This is not the appropriate platform to answer. My party will answer. Of course, he is our Minister. Do you know how we worked for digital ration cards? How we cancelled one crore false ration cards? For other legal questions, I will not answer. They will defend themselves… Arvind (Arvind Kejriwal) ko bhi notice bheja (Arvind has also been sent a notice). Five to six MPs are saying that their phones have been hacked…”
She then added, “Let [BJP] continue to do it. We cannot humiliate our motherland. We will watch. Let us tolerate what we can tolerate.”
Alluding to the recent arrest of Mallick in the ration scam case, Mamata Banerjee said irregularities in the State Food and Supplies Department were rampant during the previous Left Front rule and much of it had been “cleaned up” during the last 12 years of Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.
