DIDI PLAYS THE DOLE DRUMS

In the jousting field that is West Bengal politics, the incumbent Trinamool Congress finds itself on the back foot. Two of its heavyweight leaders—former minister Partha Chatterjee and Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal—have been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation for their alleged involvement in the teachers’ recruitment scandal and the cattle smuggling scam respectively.

- Romita Datta

Add to that the repeated CBI summons to party national general secretary and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee in the ongoing probe in the alleged coal scam. In the not-too-distant past, too, loom the dark visages of the Saradha and Narada scams, which created no less embarrassment for the TMC. Add to that infighting in the party and a spate of crimes in recent months, including rape, allegedly linked to TMC members—all leading to a palpable lack of confidence in the TMC amongst the public. And, as central agencies cast their nets wider into ongoing probes, cries of chor dhoro/ jail bhoro (catch the crook/ put him in jail) by the opposition BJP and Left fill the air.