Saradha scam emerges as major issue in West Bengal polls

Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool spokesperson Derek O'Brien said, “They had raised the same issue also before the panchayat, municipal and by-polls. What happened, Trinamool won. People of Bengal are smarter, they know what to do.”

With the sole central agency Enforcement Directorate probing the matter, state Finance minister Amit Mitra alleged that it was a political move to nail the TMC.  

A professor of political science of a city college, Udayan Banerjee, however, said, “There is no doubt that the Saradha episode is a major issue in the state as hard-earned money of the people has been siphoned off by the scamsters and major opponents are flagging the issue at this moment.”

Banerjee said although Saradha was born in the state, its roots spread to neighbouring states.

However, the impact was the maximum here, he said.  “Now with parties like CPI(M), Congress and the BJP raising the issue this time, it will find few takers and possibly have no impact in the minds of voters. People will repose more faith in the Shyamal Sen Commission,” he said.  

Professor of economics at Jadavpur University Ajitabha Roy Chowdhury said, “It is not right to blame the political parties only. Yes, they are to blame for not being able to create employment opportunities in the state. So they found that this was easiest way to provide jobs.”

He said that regulators like the SEBI and RBI and other law enforcing agencies should have been more proactive in dealing with the menace.

“Law enforcement agencies buckled under political pressure and failed to act on time,” he said.  

“These are not chit fund companies which are duly regulated. But these firms raised monies in various forms by violating norms and regulations just under the nose of political party satraps and others,” he said.