After the Enforcement Directorate arrested West Bengal Minister Jyotipriya Mallick in connection with an alleged corruption case in the public distribution system, the Bharatiya Janata Party took a dig at the Trinamool Congress leader saying that the people of Bengal were demanding the arrest of 'Chaal Chor' (ration thief) since the COVID-19 pandemic. The probe agency arrested him after conducting a raid at his residence in the Salt Lake region of Kolkata.
BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, "People of Bengal were demanding the arrest of 'Chaal Chor' (ration thief) since the COVID-19 pandemic. Jyotipriya Mallick was given the name 'Chaal Chor' by the entire West Bengal."
On ED raids, Meenakashi Lekhi said, "Who will be frightened by ED and IT? Whoever has committed theft should fear... Those who have acquired black money should fear ED and IT".
General Secretary of West Bengal BJP and MLA Agnimitra Paul said, "This was about to happen, we were waiting for it...Huge scam has happened and Mamata Banerjee needs to take responsibility for it. If Jyotipriya Mallick is being interrogated, Mamata Banerjee needs to be interrogated before that because she is the CM and under her all these things happened. She didn't know?...What is she there for? Ask her to resign and sit at home. But before you resign, you need to face interrogation. You knew everything," as quoted by ANI.
Jyotipriya Mallick is the Minister of Forest Affairs and previously held the portfolio for the Food and Civil Supplies department. The development comes amid an ongoing tussle between opposition and ruling BJP on the actions taken by the agency against Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra.