Angry Mamata slams BJP over TMC strongman Anubrata Mandal's arrest; threatens to call for 'Jail Bharo Andolan'

"Answer me, why did you arrest Anubrata? What was his fault?" a furious Mamata Banerjee hurled questions at the BJP, after keeping mum for four days after Mandal's arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Addressing a gathering in Birbhum, she accused the BJP of setting the CBI on Anubrata. "What do you (BJP) intend to achieve by arresting Keshto (Anubrata's nickname)? They control some people in their agency (CBI) with bribe..Why did they enter Keshto's residence in the middle of the night and ransacked his home?"

Despite her late reaction to Anubrata's arrest, the party's stance had become evident when Trinamool hit the streets accusing BJP of using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI against the Opposition.

Further, TMC did not show any intention to take action against Anubrata post the arrest, but it had ousted Partha Chatterjee from all party as well as ministerial posts after five days of his arrest by the ED in connection with the teacher recruitment scam.

According to political observers, Mamata Banerjee is nettled by the arrest of her trusted lieutenants Partha and Anubrata,  who have been on her side for a long time.

Venting her anger, the Trinamool chief next trained guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Narendra Modi government will be ousted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," she thundered.

Lambasting the BJP, Mamata said, "Maharashtra crumbled and, now, they are trying to play the same tactics in Bengal. They are trying to weaken Trinamool. It is not going to work here...don't forget Bengal is Royal Bengal Tiger."

She accused the BJP of engaging in horsetrading in Jharkhand. "They were trying to bring down the Grand Alliance government in Jharkhand but we foiled the attempt," she said and asked if the Centre would order a probe against the MLAs in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

The TMC chief then said she would call for 'Jail Bharo' agitation to protest against the arrests of her party leaders.

"They have arrested Anubrata, they want to arrest Bobby (Firhad Hakim). They are constantly sending summons to our boys. Let me see how far they can go. I am going to oppose this. I will call for 'Jail Bharo Andolan,'" she said.

She alleged that the Centre was targetting her government through ED and CBI and interrupting development in the state. "Thousands of crores of rupees have been wiped out of the country but we haven't seen a single culprit punished. The accused fled the country. What measure did the government take? You (BJP) think except for you all other parties are corrupt. I will die but won't be cowed down. You tried to unseat the government in Jharkhand, but credit goes to Bengal, we did not let it happen," she said.