In 1998, Mamata Banerjee held a press conference in Kolkata to announce her decision to leave the Congress and form a new party. Seated next to her was Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a Congress colleague of hers who went on to become one of her close aides. True to her austerity vows, Mamata didn’t own a car then. Bandyopadhyay’s Maruti 800 was her mode of transport.
But the duo had a bumpy ride; they parted ways in 2004 when Mamata severed all ties with the Vajpayee government at the Centre over a scam about the purchase of coffins for soldiers who were killed in the Kargil war. Bandyopadhyay, who was close to the BJP leadership then, went back to the Congress. He also objected to Mamata’s move to block Tata’s Nano car factory in Singur and became a supporter of the industrial policy of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Left Front government. The duo, however, came together during the Nandigram agitation, and Bandyopadhyay rejoined the Trinamool Congress. He became the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha after Mamata became chief minister in 2011.
Meanwhile, Mamata bought a Santro for herself. Bandyopadhyay’s old Maruti lies unused in his garage at home. But a different car has landed Bandyopadhyay in deep trouble. On January 3, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested him for his involvement in the Rs 25,000-crore Rose Valley chit fund scam, and one of the allegations against him is that he owns a premier SUV financed by the Rose Valley group, which had business interests in hospitality and tourism industry.
Bandyopadhyay’s arrest came days after the arrest of another Trinamool Congress MP, Tapas Paul. It was alleged that Paul was taken into the company at the behest of Bandyopadhyay. The duo’s involvement in the scam was revealed by Gautam Kundu, the chairman of Rose Valley group who was arrested last year. Like Paul, Bandyopadhyay was also flown to Bhubaneswar; the Rose Valley group had huge investements in Odisha.
Paul was made director of Rose Valley’s entertainment wing and his wife and daughter were given slots in its television channel. Also, Paul allegedly received ‘protection money’, much of it in cash, to expand the group’s business interests in the state, and was also ‘gifted’ cars. The group produced quite a few Bengali films, after Paul introduced Kundu to film stars. He received a huge share of the profits. Paul reportedly told interrogators that he merely endorsed the Rose Valley brand, but his signatures were found on various company documents.
While Paul was Kundu’s point man in Bengal, Bandyopadhyay took care of Kundu’s business interests in Delhi. Kundu, who is in judicial custody, told the CBI that he had paid a hefty amount to Bandyopadhyay to ensure that he didn’t have any run-ins with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office and the finance ministry. In return, the company sponsored his Europe trip and paid for his car, the documents of which are available with the CBI.
Moreover, former Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh, who was arrested in connection with the Saradha scam, too, had pointed at the involvement of Trinamool leaders in the Rose Valley and other Ponzi schemes. In his written statement to the CBI, he had said that Kundu met Mamata for the first time a day before she met Saradha chief Sudipta Sen at the government bungalow in Kalimpong. Ghosh, who is out on bail, also revealed that actor Shah Rukh Khan had endorsed the Tower Group, which also has a Ponzi scheme, at the request of Trinamool Congress leaders. “Shah Rukh Khan became the brand ambassador of Tower Group at the behest of Trinamool leaders. He was also the brand ambassador of West Bengal state. The chief minister used to coordinate with all such groups through her MP, Mukul Roy,” Ghosh said in the statement, which is in the possession of THE WEEK. From financing Durga Puja committees, patronised by Trinamool Congress leaders, to accommodating Alchemist Ponzi fund chief K.D. Singh as the party’s MP, “Mamata’s party was identified with those firms”, he said.
Mamata, who had been quite vocal against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation policy, is rankled, no doubt, with the arrests of her two MPs in a week. Calling it a political vendetta, she said, “I am least bothered if the CBI arrests me or my family members.”
Party secretary general Partha Chatterjee said: “It clearly shows that because of Mamata’s massive protests against demonetisation, the Modi government wanted to teach her a lesson by falsely implicating one of our senior leaders. We will give a befitting reply and will not bow down under any pressure.” Soon after Bandyopadhyay’s arrest, the BJP’s state headquarters at College Street was ransacked, following which a clash between Trinamool and BJP workers broke out. The BJP’s office in Hooghly, too, was set on fire.
However, the CBI’s sudden move to arrest the MPs has raised questions. There had been no arrests for a year, when Modi and Mamata were on good terms. During this period, Mamata received financial support from the Centre and she, in turn, implemented Modi’s pet projects in Bengal.
But BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said, “Is it not better late than never?” He, however, agreed that the investigation had slowed down a bit. “But I am happy that finally the CBI made a breakthrough by arresting one of the prime suspects,” he said.
To counter the BJP, Trinamool Congress leaders uploaded a speech of BJP minister Babul Supriyo at a Rose Valley function held three to four years ago. The singer-politician, however, said he attended the event as an artist. “Artists who performed taking money from company are not arrested,” said Sinha. “Babul was then an artist only, not a BJP leader. Politicians who helped these companies fleece poor people will have to pay a price.”
With the CBI planning to send notices to two other MPs and ministers and a few of her MLAs, Mamata looks cornered. Her only solace has been the support from the Congress. Looks like joining hands with Rahul Gandhi on the demonetisation issue has paid dividends.
