BJP demands white paper on Mamata's Singapore visit

The BJP Saturday demanded that the West Bengal government issue a white paper on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's maiden foreign visit to Singapore.

Led by Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra, a delegation comprising a host of bureaucrats and entrepreneurs embarked on a five-day visit to Singapore Aug 17 hunting for investments for the state.

"This visit was not to secure investment, rather it was a holiday trip. So for the sake of the common man, we demand the state government immediately issue a white paper giving details of who were part of the visit, who funded it and what amount of investments did the government secure," said state Bharatiya Janata Party president Rahul Sinha.

Sinha said if the government did not issue a white paper, his party will resort to the Right to Information (RTI) Act to get the requisite details.

Condemning Trinamool Congress legislator Nirmal Majhi's comments calling for burning "real human effigies", Sinha threatened to seek legal recourse if the doctor-turned- legislator was not arrested.

"Despite filing two complaints, police are yet to take any action against Majhi. If the Trinamool government doesn't initiate any action against a doctor who has prescribed middle-ages barbarism, we will move the high court," he said.

Majhi had made the comments Wednesday reacting to the CPI-M affiliated Association of Health Service Doctors protesting the suspension of several health officials, including North Bengal Medical College and Hospital principal Anup Kumar Roy.

The BJP leader flayed the Trinamool for shielding its leaders who have repeatedly been caught delivering hate speeches.

"The Trinamool has been shamelessly shielding its men by directing police not to take any action against its legislator Manirul Islam who publicly declared that he has trampled three people to death, or its parliamentarian Tapas Paul who called for killing and raping rival party workers. This government has proved that it has no faith in the people or democracy," Sinha said.

Accusing the ruling party of being involved in the Saradha scam from "head to foot", Sinha said a host of Trinamool leaders and their associates will soon be behind bars with the Central Bureau of Investigation intensifying its probe.

Meanwhile, industrialist Shishir Bajoria, who was a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, formally joined the BJP earlier in the day.