Mamata: India would plunge into darkness under Modi

A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi blamed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the Saradha scam, it was TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s turn to retort.

Responding to Modi’s allegations, Banerjee took it upon herself to warn people that if Modi came to power, India would plunge into darkness.

“He indulges in divisive politics. He wanted to separate Darjeeling. Now he wants to divide Hindus and Muslims in Bengal. We do not want unsolicited advice from the architects of riots,” she said. Banerjee also called him a devil.

Clearly, Modi's allegations struck a raw nerve, especially since he raised questions about the sale of Banerjee’s paintings.

At a rally in Srirampore on Sunday, Modi had said: “Your (Mamata Banerjee’s) paintings used to sell for Rs 4 lakh, Rs 8 lakh or Rs 15 lakh, but what is the reason that one of your paintings got sold for Rs 1.80 crore? I respect art. Who was the person who bought the painting for Rs 1.80 crore?”

Sudipta Sen, whom Modi had hinted as the buyer of the paintings, on Monday denied having bought the painting. “Ï have not bought any of Mamata’s paintings,” he said, while being brought to a local court during a hearing. Pat came the Left front’s response: “The chief minister now needs a certificate from scam-tainted Sudipta Sen.”

TMC wrote to the Election Commission on Monday complaining that such “unsubstantiated” allegations were a violation of the model code of conduct.

Banerjee’s response to Modi's allegations was the second from her party on Monday. Earlier in the day, state finance minister Amit Mitra and TMC general secretary Mukul Roy addressed a press conference and demanded an apology from Modi.

What added to TMC's embarrassment was that the party’s candidate, Arpita Ghosh, was on Monday quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the Saradha probe.

Ghosh, a TMC candidate from Balurghat, who was associated with Saradha’s media arm, was grilled by the ED in the morning for about two-and-a-half hours. She, however, refused to speak to the media on this. This is the second time Ghosh is being questioned by the ED.

Allegations and counter-allegations have ensured the spectre of Saradha has come back to haunt Banerjee on the last day of campaign for the third phase of election in the nine constituencies spread across Birbhum, Bardhman, Howrah and Hooghly districts of West Bengal.

Incidentally, these are some of the districts where many of the one-million duped investors of Saradha investors hail from.

Meanwhile, the Shyamal Sen commission, which is in charge of recommending the government on compensation, said on Monday that it would be selling two of the Saradha's newspapers to recover money. The commission received 1.7 million applications during the probe. Although most of these involved Saradha, investors of other companies such as Amazon, Suraha Microfinance, Sunmarg, ICore, Rose Valley and Alchemist, too, have registered their complaints with the commission and came up for hearing.