| Sunday , February 1 , 2015 |
The writing on Mukul's body language |
| Our Bureau |
 Roy on Saturday Needless to say, the views from the top and elsewhere did not match. For further clarifications, party functionaries can text Mamata on +918334***500, toll-free. “I don’t know what the CBI had asked Mukul yesterday, but from his body language it is clear that he is under pressure,” Mamata was quoted as telling a meeting of her party today, less than 24 hours after the Trinamul all-India general secretary came out of the CBI office smiling. The smile stayed in place today as Mukul stepped inside the Trinamul meeting venue, and 75 minutes later, stepped out. Sources said Mukul sat next to Mamata during the closed-door meeting with senior party functionaries at her Kalighat residence. From that vantage perch, the chief minister appears to have had a better view of the body language. But what struck Mamata’s colleagues as unusual was the suggestion in her claim that she remained in the dark about what went on inside the CBI office yesterday when he was questioned in connection with the Saradha scandal. It is unusual because Mukul did find time to brief the media at least four times yesterday. “Earlier, Mukulda would hardly do anything without informing her and that’s something about him that Didi liked the most,” said a Trinamul veteran. If Mamata’s reported claim about being in the dark is corroborated, one interpretation will be that Mukul’s message to her and the public is the same: “I want truth to come out and I will cooperate with the CBI.” Law-abiding citizens are expected to take such a stand but Mukul’s expression of intent stands out in sharp contrast with another reported declaration by Mamata today. “We will take on the BJP, the Centre and the CBI politically. Here and in Delhi. We will take this fight to Parliament,” she said, according to an MLA who was present through the meeting. Contrast this with what Mukul had said before he stepped out of his Elgin Road flat: “If necessary, I shall go to the CBI another hundred times, should they call me as many times. The party has been declaring its political stand about the CBI. I have been giving you my personal views.” Some sources interpreted the comments as evidence that Mamata and Mukul had fallen out. Others preferred to wait and watch. In the evening, Subhendu Adhikari, the MP whom Mamata tried to pacify by promising more responsibilities during the day, called on Mukul. The sources said Mukul had sent a text message to Mamata that he held his head high both while entering and coming out of the CBI office, to which the chief minister apparently replied “thank you”. “Didi announced today that the party MPs will protest in Delhi against the use of the CBI by the Centre.... She plans a campaign in Delhi for electoral reforms… But she gave the charge of organising these protests to Derek O’Brien and not Mukulda,” said an MLA. According to him, the chief minister today mentioned several times that Subhendu (Adhikari)-Abhishek (Banerjee) would jointly steer the party’s organisational work and poll campaigns. “Although she said that Mukulda would assist, it appeared that she has started planning how to run the organisation without him,” said the MLA. Roy was the last to leave Kalighat after the meeting. Wearing the same smile, he got into his car and left. Now, the lip reading. The sources said Mamata also spoke of the threat of the BJP breaking up her party — the first time she is known to have articulated the concern in so stark a manner. “The BJP is trying to break up the party… But we will remain united and fight as one,” Mamata was quoted as saying. “In Mukul’s case, it is intimidation. That won’t work. We are united,” she added. Mamata stressed several times that the party would stand by those whom the CBI has targeted — she named both Mukul and party MP Adhikari — as part of the Centre’s “political vendetta”. Later, she added herself to the list of those who may face arrest, an MLA said. “Amra keu chor noi (None of us is a thief). I have emerged from political struggle. I don’t fear being arrested. If they send me to jail, let them,” an MLA quoted Mamata as saying. “I don’t get rest usually. If they send me to jail, I can take some rest and I will write books. The royalty that I will earn from the books will help me run the organisation,” the chief minister added, according to the MLA. “She tried to give an impression that an arrest in this case means nothing… It was clear that she was trying her best to keep the flock together by allaying fears of a split in the party as a consequence of the CBI probe,” said a senior Trinamul leader. Mamata appeared to tweak her stand on dissent, which till now she had sought to address by saying those who want to leave were free to do so. Today, she was quoted as saying: “There can be opposing viewpoints. There can be points of criticism. I request you to raise them within the party. Please don’t take it outside.” According to an MLA, she gave a text-only toll-free number (+918334***500) for sending complaints to her, which, she assured, would be addressed promptly. Mamata apparently went on to ask those present to raise their issues before her then and there. “Who in his right mind would do that? There was deathly silence,” an MLA said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150201/jsp/frontpage/story_11056.jsp#.VM3pqtKUeSo |