Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday took a dig at Babul Supriyo over his induction into the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, while the CPM said the reshuffle of the ministry was part of the Trinamul Congress’s bid to deflect people’s attention from the alleged SSC scam.
“Babul Supriyo was a minister in Modiji’s cabinet, but a minister of state. An MoS has his limitations, yet he enjoyed some powers. Six months later, he will wonder what a big hole he has dug for himself? Wait and see,” Adhikari said.
He then went on to add that members of Mamata’s cabinet had no authority and they functioned just as “lampposts” while the decision-making power solely lay with the chief minister herself.
CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said the reshuffle meant nothing as people of the state knew that it was a diversionary tactic to deflect their attention from the recruitment scam. “But the good thing is that the people have come to know the true face of the Trinamul government and they will reject them very soon.”
CPM’s Fuad Halim took to Facebook to hint at a tacit understanding between Trinamul and the BJP over the appointment of Supriyo. He wrote: “From Modi’s cabinet to Mamata’s cabinet via jhaal muri at Darjeeling.”
Halim was referring to a May 2015 incident when Supriyo — then a Union minister — shared a street-side snack with Mamata near Victoria Memorial in Calcutta. He also referred to a recent closed-door meeting between Mamata and her Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma at the Governor’s House in Darjeeling.
Chakraborty said people like Supriyo were thirsty for power. “As long as he was with the BJP, he enjoyed power. The moment he was removed from the cabinet, he quit the party and joined Trinamul.”
Left Front chairman Biman Bose and BJP’s Adhikari were invited to the swearing-in of new ministers. However, they didn’t attend the event.
Asked about his absence from the swearing-in, Adhikari said two primary accused persons in post-poll results violence — Udayan Guha and Partha Bhowmik — had been inducted into the cabinet and hence, he had skipped the programme.
