Doctored videos are being used by BJP to malign us: Mamata

Kolkata: Questioning the BJP about the price at which they bought the “doctored” videos showing two Trinamool Congress leaders accepting “bribes”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the motive behind these videos was to malign the party and stop it from playing a key role in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.[caption id=“attachment_2689758” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. AFP[/caption] “These are doctored videos. I won’t say anything about the (parliamentary) ethics committee. Our MP Kalyan Banerjee will speak about it. I will only say these videos were made before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Now it is 2016. These videos were made for political purpose. It is a political vendetta. It will not have any impact,” Banerjee said. She challenged the authenticity of video clips of Narada News, showing two Trinamool Congress leaders either accepting bribes or promising favours in exchange for stakes in a fictitious company, saying “If any businessman from Bengal or all over the world can say that we have taken money in lieu of the work done, I will resign tomorrow.” The BJP is circulating the clips from their office. What amount of money did they spend to buy these videos? Where from did they get the audacity to say Bhag Mamata Bhag? Don’t think that you are in power in Delhi so you can do whatever you want. I am not afraid of such threats, Banerjee said. At present, the parliamentary ethics committee and the Calcutta Hight court are looking into the videos. “They want to finish us as they don’t want TMC to play a big role in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But let me tell you, not only in 2016, but also in 2019, the TMC will play a very good role in Delhi. “We have done a lot of developmental work in the last four-and-a-half years. I can challenge any political party regarding the developmental work done by us. So the political opponents in order to hush up our developmental work are using these doctored videos to malign the TMC,” Mamata said in an interview to a private TV news channel. She went on to say, “There are so many corrupt politicians who have done nothing after staying in power for so many years.” Our lawyer Kalyan Banerjee has raised our points before the court and the high court also wanted to know details about the company involved in sting operation, she said. “Criminal proceedings were initiated against the person who did this for violation of Secrecy Act and he was arrested by the CBI…Everything will come out,” Banerjee said adding, she would not make any further comment on the issue since the matter is sub-judice. PTI