KOLKATA — West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee on Monday asserted that making the party free from “the pests of corruption” is her prime target.

“If the pest attacks even one paddy plant, it should be eliminated and destroyed immediately since that one pest will contaminate the entire stock of paddy in the coming days. So, we will have to destroy that pest and also ensure that there is no chance for revival of pests,” she said while addressing the party’s Working Committee meeting.

According to her, first-time offenders will be cautioned. “Better they take this caution seriously. Otherwise, we will have to think differently,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee’s comments come just a day after her nephew and the party’s national General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, in his address on the stone-laying ceremony of the new party office in Kolkata on Sunday, said that anyone in the Trinamool found guilty of involvement in corruption will be immediately shown the door.

“In June last year at a rally in Jalpaiguri district, I spoke of the emergence of a new Trinamool Congress. Everyone was intrigued to know what the new Trinamool Congress is. If anyone is proved guilty of involvement in any kind of corruption, they will be driven out of the party without any second thought. This is the new Trinamool Congress,” he said.

The consecutive cautions of the two topmost party leaders on this count gains a special significance at a time when a number of leaders like former Education Minister and party Secretary General Partha Chatterjee are in jail due to alleged involvement in the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam.

The Chief Minister also said that the commitment towards people should be the only motto of her party. “I follow the principles of my commitment towards people from dawn to dusk on a daily basis. Even I am not above the people and the party,” she said.

At meeting, singer-turned-politician and Minister of State for Information and Cultural Affairs, Indranil Sen reportedly faced her wrath for not giving enough time to his assignment.

Banerjee also said that good workers will receive accolades and given priority in new assignments. — IANS

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Cover photo: West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, party state president Subrata Bakshi and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at a press conference in Kolkata on Jan. 2, 2023. — IANS