Howrah bypoll a major challenge for TMC govt
Howrah Lok Sabha bypoll scheduled for June 2 is a major challenge for Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress which is still reeling under the impact of the collapse of multi-million rupees Saradha chit fund scam.
In the past two years that she had been in power in West Bengal, Ms Banerjee may have taken some faulty policy decisions or made some outrageous statements. However, her credibility was unaffected. It was not just her party which projected her as shototar pratik (symbol of honesty), the masses believed that she was a symbol of honesty.
“But the chit fund scam has seriously undermined her integrity. Now people ridicule the Trinamul Congress’ shototar pratik slogan. The general perception is that Saradha Group and Trinamul Congress were interlinked. Sudipta Sen himself had written to CBI implicating two Trinamul Congress MPs,” CPI(M) central committee member Mohammed Salim said.
Over a dozen people — both depositors and agents — have committed suicide and people are profoundly angry with the Trinamul Congress for patronising a company which ruined the lives of lakhs of people. That Trinamul Congress was not keen to face the electorate became evident when Ms Banerjee publicly slammed the Centre and the Election Commission for announcing the bypoll so soon after the death of the sitting Howrah Trinamul Congress MP Ambika Banerjee.
Banerjee died on April 25 and the bypoll was announced on May 3. Ironically, despite her disapproval of the early announcement of the bypoll, Ms Banerjee announced her party candidate within hours.
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