The Congress on Tuesday, 20 September, hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, calling her a "trojan horse" for her recent remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banerjee, who is otherwise one of the most vehement critics of the prime minister, had sought to insulate him from allegations of "misuse" of central investigative agencies by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government, by saying that she did not believe that Modi was behind the excesses of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
"I don't believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is behind this, but some BJP leaders are misusing the CBI and ED for their interests," she had said.
'Nothing New in Banerjee's Appreciation of BJP': Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Hitting out at Banerjee, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government had been "rattled" by central agencies.
"Mamata is holding out an olive branch to PM out of desperation. The reason is obvious. When the ruling dispensation of West Bengal has been confronting the investigating agencies, who have been acting at the behest of the court, the TMC itself has been rattled," he said, as per NDTV.
He also said that the image of Banerjee as someone "who holds the impression of integrity and honesty" had been "shattered."
"Now Mamata Banerjee is shuddering with fear because she knows where the shoe pinches," Chowdhury added.
He also said that there was nothing new in Banerjee's "appreciation of the BJP and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)" as she was once a part of the National Democratic Alliance.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) went even further in its criticism, saying that Banerjee's TMC was "born as an offshoot of (the) RSS in 1998."
"People who do not know the internal events and chemistry of the Trinamool Congress or Mamata Banerjee with PM Modi or others, might be upset. But we, who have information are not upset," CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty said.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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