Mamata Banerjee starts weeding out corrupt elements from TMC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee started a massive crackdown against a section of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders following severe public discontentment over alleged corrupt practices by them in distributing compensation among those affected by the cyclone Amphan.

The alleged involvement of local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in taking “cut money” (bribe to avail government schemes) had cost the party dearly in the last Lok Sabha elections. According to TMC sources, Banerjee wants to ensure that a similar situation does not arise ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.

The Chief Minister has made it clear that to keep politics out of the process of distributing compensation, the task will be carried out by the administration and local party leaders will have no role to play. The development comes after agitations by locals in several districts against alleged corruption and nepotism by a section of TMC leaders in preparing the list of cyclone-affected persons for receiving compensation from the government. At several places, these leaders allegedly included names of their family members, relatives and close aides who were unaffected by the cyclone.

Instances of such activities have come to light in the districts of South and North 24 Paraganas, East Medinipur and Hooghly. For instance, a TMC panchayat pradhan in Hooghly district, Narendranath Singh, who owns a two-storied concrete house included his wife in the list of cyclone-affected people.

When it created public outrage in the area he submitted a corrected list, changing 92 out of the 102 names from the previous list. He claimed that the “mistake” occurred as he submitted the earlier list in a hurry.

The Chief Minister sent a strong message by promptly expelling Singh along with several other party leaders for their alleged involvement in such activities.

She has instructed the state administration to prepare a fresh list of cyclone-affected people in districts where such alleged manipulation took place. According to sources, payment of compensation in several districts has been blocked after irregularities in the lists of affected people came to light.