Trinamool Congress MP Idris Ali made the comments at a meeting in North 24-Parganas district
A Trinamool Congress lawmaker today warned that West Bengal would "burn" if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was arrested in the Saradha chit fund case.
"If chief minister Mamata Banerjee is touched or arrested, Bengal will burn. A lot of other people will also burn in the same fire. Mamata is the nation's firebrand Chief Minister. Even Modi won't be able to control the fire," Idris Ali, the Trinamool MP from Basirhat, said at a meeting.
He later defended his words, saying, "Whatever I said is right, I request the Prime Minister and and BJP leaders to not misuse CBI for political motives."
Bengal's ruling party alleges that the CBI of Central Bureau of Investigation has been targeting its members in connection with the scam in which lakhs of people were cheated out of their savings. A state minister, Madan Mitra, and two Trinamool MPs, Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh have been arrested.
Reacting to Mr Ali's comments, Congress' PC Chacko said, "This is very serious matter in which politicians are also involved. It should be investigated. If Central government is targeting chief minister or vice versa, it is unnecessarily creating chaos."
Ms Banerjee has been accused of being the "biggest beneficiary" in the Saradha scam by Kunal Ghosh, who was suspended by the Trinamool before his arrest last year.
In November, Mr Ghosh had allegedly overdosed on sleeping pills in jail, days after he said in court that he would take his own life if the "real beneficiaries" of the chit fund scam were not arrested.
The Saradha Group operated a Ponzi scheme offering massive returns of 40 per cent and more until it collapsed last year, leaving lakhs of small investors bankrupt in West Bengal and Odisha. Trinamool leaders were allegedly close to the group's chairman Sudipto Sen, who is also in jail.