Kolkata: A day after she expressed willingness to work with arch-rival CPI(M) on the Centre's demonetisation of high-value currency notes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday called the left party's general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, urging him to wage a "united fight" against the BJP and its "anti-people policies".
A senior CPI(M) leader, however, gave her a rebuff, describing the call as a "desperate call" to save her own party leaders who were allegedly involved in corruption.
"Yes, today Mamata Banerjee called Sitaram Yechury and told him that all the opposition parties should come together to put up a united fight against the BJP. Yechury replied that since he was travelling, he could only comment on the matter after discussing it in the party," CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim told PTI.
He described Banerjee's phone call as a "desperate call" to save her own party leaders who were involved in "corruption".
"This is a desperate call and an attempt to save her own party leaders who are allegedly involved in the Saradha and Narada scams. What is the credibility of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)? How can they talk about fighting against black money when her (Mamata's) own party leaders are involved in the Saradha scam and have been arrested," Salim said.
"When her own party leaders have been involved in Narada, this is nothing but a political gimmick. Those running their party in West Bengal through corruption should not talk much about black money," he added.
Salim alleged that a "political match-fixing" was going on between the TMC and the BJP and that was why the CBI probe into the Saradha scam had "gone slow" over the last one-and-a-half years.
"They should first come clean on the Saradha scam and then talk about black money," the CPI(M) leader said.
Banerjee had yesterday said she was ready to work with the CPI(M) and other opposition parties such as the SP, BSP, and Congress, despite ideological differences, to "save the country" from the NDA government.
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