West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee backs LK Advani for President
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said she would be happy to see senior BJP leader LK Advani as India's next President, during an interview to a Bengali TV channel. Banerjee added she wouldn't mind if Union Minister Sushma Swaraj or Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan became President. President Pranab Mukherjee's term will end on 24 July; BJP is reportedly fielding Advani for the post.
Banerjee refrained from criticizing PM Narendra Modi and BJP's President Amit Shah during the interview. She reportedly named BJP only a few times but has referred to the RSS as a "saffron" outfit. When asked why Manipur's sole Trinamool MP Robindro Singh backed the BJP government, she denied knowing him and said: "These things happen in the north-eastern states. Money decides politics out there."
Mamata Banerjee refused to accept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results and said: "There is something fishy with the final numbers. I am wondering why Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress have not lodged complaints about EVM machines like Mayawati. They can still move court."
Banerjee said an SP-BSP alliance should contest the 2019 General Elections as Congress is weak in UP. She added the "saffron brigade" is keen to spread into WB as it will decide the fate of 2019 elections. She stated TMC would lead the country or offer crucial support to form the next government. She said TMC will field candidates in Odisha, UP and Rajasthan.
At a time when TMC MPs and Ministers are being probed by CBI in the Narada sting case, Banerjee said sending KD Singh to Rajya Sabha was a mistake. Kolkata Police's SIT is probing into three companies of Singh's Alchemist Group, which allegedly duped investors of Rs. 2.53cr. Police booked Singh, his son, and another person on 16 March after 69 investors registered complaints.
Tehelka, KD Singh's media venture, conducted the sting operation in which TMC leaders were seen accepting cash in 2014. Mathew Samuel, who caught the leaders on camera, later formed his own company Narada News and released the tapes in 2016.
Mamata Banerjee alleged the sting operation was the brainchild of BJP, Congress, and CPI (M) leaders. She thought KD Singh was a good person and made him a Rajya Sabha member, which she said was a blunder. She said she hasn't met Singh in four years, but he keeps in touch with TMC MPs in Delhi. She alleged Singh has links with BJP leaders.
Mamata Banerjee reiterated that her party, Trinamool Congress, was "framed"; she said offering bribe is a crime as well. According to her, Mathew Samuel, posing as a journalist, asked Iqbal Ahmed (Kolkata's Deputy Mayor) to take him to TMC leaders as he wanted to interview them. She also added, "I hold no prejudice against the CBI. I want the truth to be exposed."
