IT is scam time in West Bengal. What was known to almost everyone, a bit partially, has now been exposed to the public by the ongoing CBI investigations into the Saradha chit fund scam. Almost daily, ministers and leaders of the ruling party and people close to them are being interrogated by central investigation agencies CBI and Enforcement Directorate. Numerous raids have been conducted in their premises and the chain of biggest ever economic fraud in the history of the state is now coming into daylight. HAUNTING SPECTRE OF SARADHA CBI’s probe into the Saradha scam has taken it to the Trinamool Congress’s doorstep. Already TMC Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh has spent nearly a year in custody. Once the champion of Saradha as well as Mamata Banerjee, Ghosh fell out after he threatened to disclose the entire story. He was quickly taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team of state police and since then had been behind the bars. Another TMC Rajya Sabha MP, Ahmed Hassan Imran, was interrogated by ED for his dubious connection with Sharada. Imran, a journalist who runs a Bengali newspaper, was quizzed about his income, his connection with the sale of a newspaper owned by Saradha chief Sudipta Sen. A section of the media has also reported about siphoning off Saradha’s money to a neighboring country for fundamentalist activities through the TMC MP. CBI is on the trail of that association. For the first time, state minister for textiles Shyamapada Mukherjee was summoned and interrogated for his dealings with the Saradha Group. It has been alleged that Mukherjee, owner of a factory in Bankura district, sold his ailing concern to the group for a hefty price. That it was not a normal transaction was proved beyond doubt by the fact that the factory remained closed from the day it was handed over. CBI has raided the house of former police officer and now TMC leader Rajat Majumdar who served as ‘security advisor’ to Saradha Group. An official of East Bengal club, Debabarta Sarkar, and businessman Sandhir Agrawal are already in custody. But the interrogation of Bapi Karim, the former PA to Sports Minister Madan Mitra, evoked curiosity. Karim admitted that he was a conduit between Mitra and the Saradha chief and visited the group’s office several times to bring money. In April 2014, Mitra himself had admitted before journalists that Saradha Chairman and Managing Director Sudipta Sen donated crores of rupees for a ‘temple’ in his earlier assembly constituency in Bishnupur in South 24-Parganas district. The long grilling session of Karim is considered as an attempt by the CBI to gather evidence against Mitra. There are video clips showing Mitra at a number of events with the Saradha kingpin, where he lauded the fraudster. As the investigation progresses, the likelihood of knocking the doors of leaders of even higher echelons of TMC and the state administration have become probable. Already CBI and ED’s searches have proved that huge sums were spent by Saradha Group to placate and pamper TMC leaders and some intellectuals who played virulent anti-Left role during last years of the Left Front government. Some top-notch cine stars, theatre personalities and artists were paid mind-boggling amounts by the fraudster. In fact, knocking at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's door is not a distant possibility now. It now appears that, in 2010, when Banerjee was the Railway minister, the Saradha Group had bagged a contract with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for Banerjee's pet project, the 'Bharat Tirtha' programme. The latest disclosure, which came after CBI found papers relating to the deal, negates her claims that she was not familiar with the group till it went bust in 2012. The West Bengal government was against the CBI probe into the scam from the very beginning. It was the Supreme Court which had ordered an inquiry into the case and since then, the more the CBI has made advancements in the case, the more shivering is being felt within ruling party. MOCKERY REJECTED Whether the central investigation agencies will probe further and pinpoint the complicity of political heavyweights or not is an open question, considering the history of CBI and political influence exercised upon them. But it has been exposed to the people of the state that the ruling party and the state government were intrinsically linked with Saradha Group and collaborated in the looting of the people’s money. This has further dented the image of the TMC government in the backdrop of all-round decay and anarchy in the state. Economic situation of the state has become grave, particularly with fast declining industrial base. Practically no new industry has been set up in the last three years. On the contrary, the state has seen closure of many big industrial units including Haldia Petrochemicals, the source of West Bengal’s big stride in petrochemicals since the nineties. Many medium and small units were forced to close or suspend production in the face of widespread extortion by ruling party leaders and their gangs. Serious crisis in agricultural production has cropped up, resulting in reduction of cultivated areas. There is no sincere effort in employment generation on the part of the government which is keen on spending public money on festivals and countless ceremonies. The tall promises and false announcements by the topmost persons in administration have now become elements of ridicule. These are the probable reasons that led to a deliberate comment recently by Mamata Banerjee on her position vis-a vis BJP. Asked about the tie-up of Lalu Prasad-Nitish to stop BJP in Bihar, Banerjee told a news channel, "If such a situation arises in Bengal, we will think over. I still think nobody is untouchable. We had tie-up with SUCI once. We also had tie-up with some other smaller parties. If anybody comes forward, we can talk. In a democracy, nobody should shut the door for talks. No option should be closed." Further asked if she was ready to join hands with the CPI(M), Banerjee replied, "I did not say that. I only said if any proposal comes, we would discuss in our party." CPI(M) immediately rejected any suggestion of ‘talks’ with the Trinamool Congress . “Trinamool Congress is totally a party of anti-socials. There is no question of talks with them,” CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told a public meeting to commemorate Martyrs’ Day on 31st August. "Everything has taken a downturn during its rule, including law and order, industries, and art and culture. We will never talk to such elements. We will meet them only on the streets of political battle," Bhattacharjee said. Left Front chairman and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Biman Basu said, "Trinamool’s anti-communal rhetoric is a contradiction in terms. It has no history of fighting communal forces against whom the Lefts have always stood.” TMC AND BJP: COMPLEMENTARY ROLES Interestingly, it was Mamata Banerjee who for the first time in Bengal political circle identified BJP as ‘not untouchable’ in 1998 after she broke away from Congress to form her own party. She was first to align with them and was patronised by the saffron party. TMC aligned with BJP in 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections and it was with its support that BJP got seats from West Bengal. TMC was a constituent of NDA and Mamata Banerjee became minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. She attended RSS programme and was eulogised by the Sangh as “Durga” fighting the ‘Communist menace’. She, on her part, praised RSS as ‘true patriots’ and sought help to fight against the Leftists. For sheer political opportunism, Banerjee left NDA and aligned with Congress to contest the 2001 assembly elections. After the defeat, she humbly returned to the BJP fold, extended support to the BJP government in Parliament on the Gujarat massacre issue, became a Union minister again and contested as NDA partner in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. She continued this alliance and fought along with them in the 2006 assembly elections too. It was in 2009 that she again shifted her political position and aligned with Congress. This alliance continued in the 2011 assembly elections and a joint ministry was formed, only to be tattered in 2012 when she created a situation to break with Congress. In the run up to the last parliamentary elections, TMC remained silent about BJP and their projected leader Narendra Modi. However, for sheer electoral compulsions, Banerjee and Modi jumped into verbal duel in later phases, both gaining in the process. It also helped to create polarisation to some extent and reshaped the electoral scenario in the state. BJP is trying to garner strength in West Bengal after the Modi government came to power. While RSS and its outfits have intensified their activities and campaigning on communal lines, it is the TMC government which has given them fertile grounds to develop. One simple reason is attack on democracy. The terrorisation and torture by ruling party hoodlums throughout the state, mainly directed against the Left, have vitiated democratic atmosphere. Murders, attacks on oppositions, unabated violence against women, extortions, widespread attack on teachers in educational institutions, looting of votes in every level of elections from panchayat to the Lok Sabha have resulted in the breakup of democratic structure. In such a situation, communal politics gain ground and fight against communal ideology becomes more difficult. TMC’s rhetoric on secularism falls flat, for in a secular democracy one cannot defend secularism by ferociously attacking democracy. TMC, by playing communal cards and identity politics, has also created an atmosphere in which RSS and BJP used their arsenal comfortably. They widely campaigned against allowance for Imams, initiated by the Mamata Banerjee government. TMC used mobilisations on identities as divided as possible among tribals, sections of Scheduled Castes, communities and semi-religious groups. Unity of the people was disturbed. Now, overt and covert polarisation on Hindutva agenda has become much easier than ever before in West Bengal. Under Mamata Banerjee’s rule, there is great decline of cultural ethos and values in the state. A party led by degenerated elements, TMC is completely incapable of ideologically challenging RSS-BJP combine or inculcating secular values in the society. It is not accidental that BJP smells blood to spread their political influence in such a situation. RSS has already organised big camps in the state, attended by its chief Mohan Bhagawat among others. The number of RSS sakhas have increased manifold. TMC and BJP are playing complementary roles in West Bengal today. There is a perceptible attempt to polarize the people between two right wing parties after the electoral setback of the Left. A section of the mainstream commercial media and corporate behind them are trying their best tricks with this aim. CPI(M) and Left Front, on the other hand, are taking up people’s issues and combining struggle to restore democracy and fight against communal forces to change the political balance of forces.