You arrest four of us and I will get eight of your people arrested: Mamata Banerjee

Signalling a clear policy of retaliation in view of the successive arrests of Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweights in connection with various cases of alleged corruption, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said henceforth, if four persons from her team were arrested, she would ensure the counter-arrests of eight in all cases already framed against them.

“Four of our legislators (Anubrata Mandal, Manik Bhattacharya, Partha Chatterjee and Jyotipriyo Mallick) are behind bars now. They want to lessen our count through such arrests. Now if they arrest four of us, I will get eight of them arrested by reopening old cases already registered against them,” the chief minister said, while addressing an organisational convention of the TMC at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Without naming state BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader who is now the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, the chief minister alleged that the central agencies were operating in the state "as per the instructions" of Adhikari.

“One leader is forecasting raids at anyone’s residence on a particular day. The raid happens and they leave, looting everything, without furnishing any seizure list. People are even threatened at gunpoint,” the chief minister said.

On a different note, she also said India could have won the 2023 ICC World Cup had the final match been organised at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. However, she did not elaborate on this theory.

The chief minister also issued a strong note of caution against growing infighting and factionalism within the TMC. “Giving certain responsibilities to some new individuals does not mean that the old-timers will be at a loss. Everyone has specific responsibilities towards the party. Everyone has equal importance,” she said.