‘Let there be court-monitored probe, Giriraj will get arrested first’

Kolkata: With Union Panchayat minister Giriraj Singh demanding a CBI probe into alleged corruption using Central funds in Bengal under various schemes, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that let there be a court-monitored probe and that the Union minister will be the first one to get arrested if there is a fair investigation.

Banerjee warned that if any of the deprived beneficiaries who came to Delhi from Bengal to protest at Jantar Mantar are attacked by the police then TMC will give a befitting reply.

In the context of the CBI probe, Abhishek said that the central probe agency has been investigating several alleged corruption cases in Bengal but the result is zero. Taking the example of the recent recruitment corruption case, he said that nothing has come out of it and that the state government is ready to give jobs but its hands are tied because of the ongoing probe.

Further, Abhishek questioned that if indeed there has been corruption in central funds in Bengal then why hasn’t a single BJP leader from Bengal lodged an FIR yet? “The police can only probe when a complaint has been lodged,” asserted Banerjee.

According to officials, Rs 8,141.17 crore is pending under the Awas Yojana scheme whereas nearly Rs 7,000 crore is due under the MGNREGA scheme, of which Rs 2,876.28 crore constitutes the wage component.

Abhishek said according to the law, workers must be paid within 15 days. While 48 Central teams have visited Bengal in the past year on this issue, the Modi government has not cleared the payment of these labourers. In total, over 160 Central teams have visited Bengal in the past year over three schemes, he remarked.

Abhishek said it’s about time that the Prime Minister of India be changed and assured that people have the last word in a democracy.

Rebutting the fake job-card holder allegations of Singh, Banerjee alleged he has in his possession data which shows that 60 lakh job card holders were deleted in BJP-ruled-Uttar Pradesh in just a year. He also said he has similar data of corruption in states such as Gujarat and Assam.