West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says guilty must be punished but slams media trials in WBSSC scam

Days after her cabinet colleague and senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a school recruitment scam, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the media for launching a "malicious campaign" against her party.

Banerjee also asserted that anyone was proven guilty by the court must be punished but probe “agencies must not be used to malign political parties”.

Addressing a programme of Titagarh Wagons, Banerjee denounced media trials in the scam.

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"When you run a big institution, there can be mistakes. If anyone has committed any mistake, and it is proven legally, he or she must be punished. But I am against any malicious media campaign. Media is playing the role of kangaroo (court). A senior judge also said that recently," she said.

Banerjee claimed that businessmen, too, along with opposition leaders, were being “threatened by agencies at the behest of the ruling BJP” at the Centre.

"I don't have a problem if agencies function impartially. These should not be used to malign parties," she said.

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In an apparent reference to the suspension of 19 opposition members from Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, she said, “These days, if you protest against something, you get suspended.”

Among the suspended MPs, seven belong to the TMC and six to the DMK.

Asserting that the saffron party will lose elections in 2024, she said, “I can talk about the numbers and where they will be coming from… I am, however, confident that the BJP won't come to power.”