The politics of bandh is not new to Bengal. But, what is new in the 24-hour bandh called by the Congress party, in the opposition in the state for the last 20 years, is the issue of the protest. For the first time, the demoralised opposition believes it has found a brush that will paint the Left Front government in the same colour as Laloo Prasad Yadavs tottering government in Bihar.
The charge against the Left Front government is that it has siphoned off over Rs 2500 crore of funds through Personal Ledger Accounts (PLA). The opposition says that only a CBI enquiry can find out how this money was spent. It could be just a case of technical violation of government rules when funds allotted for one head is actualy spent under another head. But, the worst fears are that the money has been misued to further party interests.
The fate of the Congress campaign largely hangs on the outcome of the appeal filed by the state government with a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, against a single judge order for a special investigation by the Conptroller and Auditor General into the allegations made in connection with the PLAs. The judge, Satyabrata Sinha, referred to the case to a 2-judge division bench as it raises constitutional questions.
After an initial positive reaction to the order even by Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, the state government surprised all by moving the High Court seeking a stay on the order. There was a touch of suspense as two division benches of the Calcutta High Court refused to hear the appeal, finally leading the case to the third bench comprising of Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice Siddheswar Narayan. The arguments are on and a judgement is not expected before the middle of next week.
The states leading vernacular daily, Ananda Bazar Patrika, has been conductinmg a high voltage campaign for about five weeks into the PLA issue. The opportunity to embarrass the LF government by demanding a CBI enquiry from the High Court was grabbed by Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand Congress leader who, many suspect, is preparing to leave the party to launch her own regional party.
Not to be left behind, the ruling faction of party led by the state president, Somen Mitra, wasted no time after this judgement to give a call for the bandh. Though Mamata has often accused the Somen faction of seeking favours from the CPM, this is too sensitive an issue to be left alone by the Somen faction. If there is a favourable court verdict and CBI steps in, the PLA issue will fast snowball into national proportions. That may help the return of the Congress in Bengal, all Congressmen wishfully hope.
In a letter to the state government, the Accountant General (AG) has alleged that The actuals and the revised estimates shown in the budget would not be trustworthy.
All government departments pass their budgets in the state Assembly at the beginning of the financial year and also passes revised estimates later in the year, if necessary. Each department designates Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDO) to operate the accounts with the government treasury. The same officers operate the PLAs.
The Personal Ledger accounts are generally opened by different departments to meet urgent and emergency expenses from time to time with permission from the AG. But, each PLA is supposed to be closed by the end of each financial year. The allegation is that the West Bengal government has been continuing with the PLAs without the statutory closures at the end of the financial years. The money routed to the PLAs are not audited leading to chances of gross misuse.
The state government does not deny that PLAs have been opened and some of them without the AGs concurrence. But, neither the media nor the Congress has so far been able to prove that the funds have actually been misused. The Congress says that only a CBI enquiry can bring out the truth.
The governments ill-advised attempt to block the CAG enquiry as directed by the single judge court has only fuelled suspicions. The 20 years of the Left Front government have passed without charges of a major financial irregularity. But, the PLA issue threatens to turn into a scam.
The Left Front had been claiming that it is an exception to the rule that power corrupts. The PLA issue throws the challenge that whether there are really any exceptions.
