Centre in knots on Saradha scam and Burdwan blast link

New Delhi: Before the dust could settle over Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti’s abusive remarks, the BJP-led Narendra Modi government tied itself into knots yet again with minister of state, DoPT, Jitendra Singh, contradicting party president Amit Shah on the Saradha scam’s links to terrorism.

Toeing an opposite line, MoS for personnel Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written response on Wednesday that the “investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam has so far not revealed any terror link with Bangladesh.”

On Sunday, addressing a mammoth rally in Kolkata, the BJP president had said: “Saradha chit fund money was used in the Burdwan blast. The NIA is not being allowed to probe the blast properly. Hurdles are being created. It is being done in order to save TMC leaders who are involved in the blast.”

Jitendra Singh’s statement came as a major boost for Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, who was being forced into a corner over the revelations and her ministers and legislators’ links to the Saradha scam.

Jitendra Singh, was reportedly pulled up by senior Cabinet ministers, including minister for parliamentary affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu, for the faux pas, later clarified that “no one has been given a clean chit as the matter is still being probed.”