File photo: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said neither she nor her party Trinamool Congress needed money from the scam-tainted Saradha Group and accused the opposition and a section of the media of launching a vilification campaign against her.
"We are neither thieves nor dacoits. To shield the real culprits, lies are being spread against us and abuses are being hurled; there should be a limit to everything. I am still tolerating (all that) but that does not mean it is our weakness," Ms Banerjee said in an interview to a local TV channel.
"Neither I nor my party needed money from Saradha (chit fund company). Trinamool is the most transparent party in the country. I paint to raise money for running the party and even about that, questions are being raised as to whom I am selling my paintings to. I am not bound to reply. False campaigns are being made about my meetings," she said.
Without naming jailed Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Kunal Ghosh, who has demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation question the Chief Minister along with incarcerated Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen, Ms Banerjee said, "Limitless uncultured behaviour is being meted out. He (Ghosh) is saying I should sit face to face. He is an accused lodged in jail. We have arrested him. To save himself, he is saying whatever he wants to. Where is the evidence? There is a distinction between black and white".
"Some people are trying to make a God out of a convict," she said, referring to Mr Ghosh, who had recently criticised Ms Banerjee over the chit fund scam.
"A section of the media is carrying out a malicious campaign against me and my party. Earlier, there was a rule in media houses to judge what is right or wrong. Nowadays even if we send a rejoinder, they do not bother to publish it. Many chit fund companies have started their own media houses," she said.