CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday said the alacrity with which the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee had moved against Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra in the “cash-for-query” allegations was “laughable”, appearing to side with the leader whose own party has been silent on the controversy.

Yechury also took on the other prickly topic — the arrest of Bengal minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in connection with the alleged ration scam — saying he was opposed to the misuse and political weaponisation of central agencies

At a media conference and in his address to an extended, three-day state committee meeting of the CPM in Howrah, Yechury sought to explain the ground realities concerning the INDIA bloc, where the CPM and Trinamul are partners, and why chief minister Mamata Banerjee was welcome there.

Asked about the controversy over the “cash-for-query” allegations against Moitra, Yechury said: “I find it laughable…. For over a decade I was part of the Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee, and a total of four-five times did that committee meet. The Ethics Committee rarely meets. The alacrity, the pace with which two meetings have already taken place since the complaint was lodged, that I find astonishing and somewhat ludicrous.”

“This promptness is only because Adani sahab is involved. That is the question — Adani sahab’s involvement. Probe it, by all means, we have no objection. But if you must probe it, do it properly. The way it should be done,” he added.

“There are rules, laid-out procedures. Follow them. We have been in various committees, you must follow the rules. Committees are not meant for harassment. They are for probing, investigating and finding out what really happened,” Yechury said.

Yechury tore into the BJP over the alleged misuse of central probe agencies to stifle voices of resistance in the national Opposition, asked about Mallick’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.

“There should be no corruption anywhere in the country. But central agencies should not be misused,” Yechury said.

“They are doing that (misuse of agencies) against the Delhi chief minister. They are doing it against whoever is against the BJP. Whenever they defect to the BJP or ally with it, they are deemed clean, sans corruption. It happened in Maharashtra too. They want to use them (agencies) as a political weapon. We are fully opposed to the misuse,” he added, in a virtual echo of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s stand on the alleged hounding of the Opposition.

“In the name of corruption, you (the BJP) are harassing the Opposition, which is objectionable to us,” Yechury said.

Asked if the alleged misuse was being done to weaken the national Opposition ahead of the general election, Yechury said it was one of the motives of the BJP-led Centre. “Weakening the Opposition parties before the general election is one motive, but even without elections they will do the same thing.”

“They are making a joke of democracy,” Yechury said. “If there is corruption, prove it, take them to court, get them convicted, who is stopping the ED? But when the same people defect to the BJP, then these cases get dropped. What is the meaning of that? That is the misuse, that is what we are talking about.”

In response to questions on joining forces with Mamata in INDIA, something that has not gone down well with vast sections of workers and supporters of the CPM in Bengal, Yechury said it was done with the sole aim of defeating the BJP at the Centre, as all non-BJP parties must come together to save the secular and democratic fabric of the nation and its democracy.

Asked repeatedly if he trusts Mamata as an ally, he said: “Let’s see for how long she stays with us. If she does not, then the people will respond. We need not.”

“This is not a matter of trust. Today, she is saying she wants to fight the BJP. So come, let’s fight. We will see how long she stays… depends on her. There is no question of trust here,” Yechury said. “Any of these parties (in INDIA) could do anything at any time, that the nation’s politics has seen in the past.”

In response to doubts and critical questions from the people and party workers on featuring alongside Mamata in INDIA, Yechury said: “If today we are to save India, its democracy and the structures crucial to its democracy, then the BJP has to be kept away from the Centre. That is why we are saying that everybody come, and first let us achieve this task, save India. To save India, its Constitution, its secular democratic character, the BJP must be separated from the government and State power. Those who are willing to do that, come together.”

“Bengal is part of India. Here too, whoever is willing to unite against the BJP, they are welcome. What happens later will be seen,” added Yechury.

In his address at the CPM meeting, Yechury said INDIA ought to now enlist the support of everyone who is willing, being fully aware that it would not be consistent and there could also be “betrayals” down the road.

Yechury did go on to criticise Trinamul, calling it “anti-democratic” and “corrupt”, underscoring its past as a BJP ally.

“Trinamul was never the BJP’s alternative, nor could it become one in the future. This BJP-RSS political, ideological project needs to be defeated with a political, ideological alternative. That alternative is absent in Trinamul…. Today, if she (Mamata) wants to come join all of us in INDIA and defeat the BJP, it’s alright. There is no objection to that,” he said.

“But in Bengal, we believe the alternative is the Left Front and its allies, not Trinamul,” Yechury added.

Asked what the central leadership of the CPM would do if the state committee does not want proximity with Trinamul in Bengal, Yechury said: “Why does the state committee need to say it? I am saying we won’t. Going together in Bengal is out of question.”

“There, if she wants to, along with everyone, let her. In Kerala, we are in a direct fight with the Congress… are we not with the Congress in INDIA? What is the larger issue at hand, that is the question. There will be no seat-sharing with Trinamul in Bengal,” he added. “Till the general election comes, lots of water will flow down the Ganga. Let’s not jump the gun.”