What super emergency? Jaitley blasts Didi over dharna, dubs Opposition as Kleptocrat’s Club

Union Minister Arun Jaitely on Tuesday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her protest against the CBI. Dubbing the entire Opposition as the ‘Kleptocrat’s Club’, Jaitley questioned the intent of Banerjee’s ‘dharna’. “What is the strategy behind Chief Minister’s disgraceful and disproportionate reaction? What is her strategy in inviting all other leaders belonging to every opposition to join her on the Dharna,” Jaitley said in his latest blog. Jaitley said that Banerjee was staging ‘dharna’ to shift focus and ‘hog the centrestage’.

As Banerjee’s dharna entered third day, Jaitley said that, “Mamata Banerjee’s latest acrobatics are the best evidence of the kind of governance India’s opposition can provide.” 

As Banerjee’s dharna entered third day, Jaitley said that, “Mamata Banerjee’s latest acrobatics are the best evidence of the kind of governance India’s opposition can provide.” Countering Mamata Banerjee, Jaitley said that the dharna was an attack on federalism. “Federalism is not a slogan. It is a delicate balance of the Centre-State relationship. Our Constitutional framework clearly defines the sharing of functions between the Centre and the State. It does not permit an overlap. There are Central agencies and organizations which conduct legitimate investigation in States. Today the CBI is being brutally prevented by physical force and detention of its officer from investigating a crime legally within its jurisdiction, in the State of West Bengal. It is a textbook illustration of a State Government assaulting Federalism,” Jaitley wrote.

The Union Minister also took a dig at those supporting Mamata Banerjee’s protest. “Most of them, or their affiliates are today being investigated, prosecuted and in some cases have also been convicted for crimes of corruption. Her ally from Bihar represents the party of the convicted. The friend from Andhra Pradesh runs a party of contractors, thekhedaars and money-launderers. Her two friends from Uttar Pradesh represent the scandalous legacy of corruption. Her Anarchic brother from the Delhi Government is at his wits end because the penny stock companies of his Ministerial colleagues have been found out. Curiously, the AICC President somersaulted his position from Saradha being a scam to “shoulder-to-shoulder” support to the scamster. This somersaulter belongs to the first family of the Congress Party where most members of the family are on bail. It has been argued in the past that the Opposition is going in for a non-ideological short-lived coalition. India cannot afford instability.”