West Bengal polls: BJP, CPM cash in on Trinamool Congress's sting video controversy

KOLKATA: The BJP and CPM in West Bengal have latched onto the opportunity presented by the sting operation that allegedly shows senior leaders of ruling Trinamool Congress taking bribes, especially since the latest scandal to hit the Mamata government has come just ahead of the assembly polls in the state. The Opposition leaders are terming the sting operation a "godsend", with a senior leader of the BJP claiming that his party brought the "expose TMC" video before the media and people.

Meanwhile, a BJP leader on Wednesday filed a public interest litigation in the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI probe into the alleged scam.

The day the tape was released by Narada News on March 14, the state unit of the party had started circulating the link of the video since early morning, much before the news website held a press conference in Delhi and released the video.

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"The value lies in the footage. We kept waiting till 3 pm. But no media channel took up the issue. Then, we had to jump into action," said Krishanu Mitra, in-charge of BJP’s media cell.

Another BJP leader said, "People are now holding BJP responsible for this grand expose. Both pro-TMC and anti-TMC people think that BJP is behind the sting operation."

BJP is trying to ensure that the sting turns into an election issue. It has set up a war room to spread the footage through social media platforms. The war room has 45 members that include 22 social media experts.

The CPM is following in the footsteps of BJP. Apart from holding protest rallies, the party too started a strong social media campaign against the TMC.