WEST BENGAL is witnessing protests in many parts of the state against the recent instance of corruption involving the TMC leaders. Dr Surjyakanta Mishra, CPI(M) state secretary and leader of the opposition said that this is how public money is being looted in Bengal. The Election Commission should initiate appropriate steps to ensure that this ill gotten money is not used in the coming elections. If required, president's rule may also be imposed to stop such rampant loot and misuse of that money. Biman Basu, chairman of the Left Front, has demanded immediate probe and subsequent measures to punish the culprits. People have taken part in the protest campaigns all around the state demanding probe and action against the misdeeds. The people of the state have experienced how public money is being siphoned off to fill the coffers of the TMC loyalists through massive corruption, which was hitherto an unfamiliar word in the political lexicon of the state. The involvement of the TMC in the Saradha ponzi scam is well-known. One MP and another former minister of the TMC are behind the bars for their connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. Not only Saradha, but around thousand more big and small chit funds have siphoned people’s money and in almost all the cases known TMC men have been found involved. People of Bengal have witnessed unprecedented scam in the primary teachers’ recruitment examination in 2015. In Bengal, the people now know TET as Trinamool Eligibility Test instead of Teachers’ Eligibility Test. Not only the list published was far less than the vacancies but the list also showed that the relatives of TMC MPs, MLAs, and district leaders were selected for the primary teacher’s job. The sting operation of a Bengali television channel also unmasked how the eligibility list was prepared in TMC party office. Due to the malpractices in the School Service Commission exam, many eligible candidates have been deprived of getting the job. TMC leaders of North Bengal have been reported to be directly involved in a fraud case where around Rs 200 crores was siphoned off from the autonomous Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA). The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has also reportedly misused around Rs 30 crores in the Trident lamp installation scam where higher quotation was deliberately processed for trident lamp manufacturing and installation in favour of TMC associates. The KMC has also allowed a TMC loyalist’s company to split a 60-year lease into two 30-year terms which resulted in loss of Rs 15.3 crore for the KMC. The leader of the TMC has been projected and branded as a ‘symbol of honesty’. However, it is during her regime that some of the worst scams have taken place in Bengal. The people of Bengal have experienced the tenure of TMC as a period of corruption and scams and that is how the TMC is now symbolised.