The sting in the tale

Mamata Banerjee outwits the CBI in perceptions game after the arrests of Trinamool leaders

- RABI BANERJEE

Mamata Banerjee has a reputation for being fiercely protective of those who matter to her. When the CBI arrested her political mentor Subrata Mukherjee and close associates Firhad Hakim and Madan Mitra on May 17, the West Bengal chief minister went straightway to the Nizam Palace, the agency’s eastern region headquarters in Kolkata. And when Banerjee goes somewhere, people follow. Hundreds of men marched with her to the CBI office.

For Mukherjee, 75, who played a crucial role in bringing Banerjee to politics, it was the darkest day in his political career. He was arrested for taking a bribe during a sting operation carried out by Mathew Samuel of Narada News in 2016. It was probably the only blip in Mukherjee’s otherwise clean career. He was only 27 when chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray had entrusted him with seven departments. Today he is a key driver for rural growth in the Banerjee government. The CBI said he was “seen to have accepted the illegal gratification of ₹5 lakh”.

Transport minister Hakim, who is also the administrator of Kolkata Corporation, plays a key role in the government’s drive against the Covid-19 pandemic in the city. He was not seen taking money in the sting video. The CBI said he was “seen to have agreed for acceptance of bribe money of ₹5 lakh”.

Former transport minister Mitra was earlier arrested by the CBI in Saradha Chit Fund scam case and was in jail for almost two years. The CBI said he was “seen to have accepted the illegal gratification of ₹5 lakh”.