Trinamool sting: Left, Congress, BJP up the ante with protests

In the wake of the sting operation alleging bribery by several leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, the opposition Congress, Left Front and the BJP on Tuesday organised protest marches across the city demanding the removal of the Mamata Banerjee government.

Pressing for its demand for Banerjee's resignation as well as a CBI probe into the alleged bribery scandal, the Bharatiya Janata Party organised a protest march and submitted a memorandum to Governor K.N. Tripathi.

"Neither the chief minster nor the Trinamool government has any right to continue. We have placed our demand with the governor seeking his intervention in the matter. A CBI probe into the allegations is also imperative," BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said after meeting Tripathi.

While Congress youth activists staged a protest in the city throwing fake notes in the air, there were also joint protest marches by Congress and Left Front activists.

Poll-bound Bengal's ruling Trinamool on Monday faced an embarrassing situation when several of its leaders were allegedly caught on camera accepting bribes.

The sting operation carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website allegedly showed as many as 11 Trinamool leaders, including former union ministers, state ministers and MPs, accepting bribes in return for favours to a fictitious company.

The Trinamool has rubbished the allegations made in the sting operation and threatened legal action against the news portal claiming the videos were "doctored".

Even as the bribery scandal rocked the Lok Sabha, with the Congress, Left and the BJP demanding action in the matter, Mamata Banerjee, appearing unfazed, challenged the opposition to fight her politically instead of resorting to conspiracies.

"Let the opposition hatch as many conspiracies as they want. We are not afraid. We work for the people honestly," Banerjee said in her address at a public meeting in Kurseong in Darjeeling district.