Could the Saradha crisis become Mamata's Singur moment?

Could Saradha group’s disastrous ponzi scheme turn out to be the beginning of the end for Mamata Banerjee and the TMC? Given that the lower middle class and the poor, who are her largest constituency, have been hit the hardest by this disaster, it could well become Didi’s nemesis. “If it is seen that her government has tacitly supported the group and that same group has deprived poor people of their life’s savings then it is really going to be politically very volatile,” senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said. The controversial letter that Saradha Group’s Sudipta Sen sent to the CBI mentions several important politicians and even cabinet ministers who were complicit in the company’s day to day affairs, he added. [caption id=“attachment_727815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lakhs of investors have been duped by Saradha scheme. Seen here are investors breaking down in front of Saradha office in Malda. PTI.[/caption] However, chit funds have been operating in West Bengal since the 1980 when the Left parties were in power and the TMC alone cannot be blamed for it. Advertisements of the Saradha group that featured in the CPM mouthpiece Ganashakti might also raise awkward questions for the Left. “Chit funds, better known as ‘cheat funds’, like Sanchayita, Sanchayini and Overland have proliferated from the 1980s. Sadly that has continued,” Thakurta said. “This particular group (Saradha group) became big - so many operations including small savings scheme, real estate and media - and you cannot deny that they were favoured by members of parliament and owned media outlets that openly favoured Trinamool Congress. They were members of Parliament and the TMC is embarrassed,” Thakurta said. In attempting to play catch up with the Left, which had several newspapers and channels writing in its favour, the TMC may have knowingly or unknowingly walked into a murky deal with the Saradha group. And irrespective of whether they were the ones who allowed the scheme to grow in size and scope, the TMC is the one left holding the pieces.