At first we thought Mamata was coming. Or maybe Shahrukh Khan. The throng of journalists, camera, lights and policemen outside the Calcutta Press Club could only be justified if the press conference to be held there was for a serious celeb. But the man who addressed us was an unassuming Malayali journalist called Mathew Samuels.
Mathew Samuels is the man behind the Narada News sting operation, which shows some of the Trinamool Congress’ most senior leaders and Mamata’s closest associates accepting wads of cash on camera. After the authenticity of the videos was questioned, Samuels came forward and said he was the man holding the camera.
To the educated middle class or bhadrolok of Bengal, Samuels is a hero. The event at the Press Club was held by the Bengal Study Circle to honour the sting master.
For some of the educated elite in the city, including a retired engineer and a filmmaker, the hidden camera showed them what they already knew . That Mamata Banerjee’s government was a corrupt one in cahoots with criminals and less than savoury businessmen. The ‘syndicate’ that runs the state has become far less palatable than even the Communist government that preceded it.
In the press conference that followed his felicitation, attended by some of Kolkata’s most senior reporters, two questions came up.
Narada News Released Footage After Mathew Quit
1. The sting was carried out in 2014. Why wait two years to release the footage if not for a political end – to affect an election?
2. Who funded the operation? Are rumours of financiers from Dubai true? Is it another political party trying to discredit Mamata?
Mathew Samuels took on both questions, but only in part. Yes, he waited two years to release the footage. After shooting the sting, he was offered a the role of editor at Tehelka magazine and he took it. It was only after he quit that the owners of Narada News decided to release the footage. The fact that it could be a game-changer as far as the elections are concerned seems not to have been an issue.
As for the funding, Samuels insisted that it was friends who wanted to start the website, not a political outfit or mysterious sources abroad. The follow up to his rather vague answers never came.
As we were leaving, a man selling chana asked us what the commotion was about. Was there a celebrity in there? No, he hadn’t heard of Mathew Samuels. He had seen the tapes though.
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