Kolkata, Dec 16 (IANS): Opposition parties in West Bengal have questioned Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's silence over the Parliament security breach amid revelations that the mastermind has state connections.

The mastermind, Lalit Jha'd probable Maoist-links have also come under the scanner of the investigation agencies.

The BJP has already started a massive propaganda campaign on social media by posting a picture of Jha with veteran Trinamool Congress legislator Tapas Ray.

Senior BJP, including the party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya and the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu AdhikarI, have gone all out in attacking the Chief Minister over her silence.

While Malviya has said that the Chief Minister cannot remain silent about the connection of Lalit Jha with her party legislator, Adhikari accused the state government and the ruling party of directly patronising the divisive and separatist elements in the state.

However, Trinamool Congress leaders, including party spokesman Kunal Ghosh, have claimed that the BJP is trying to divert the attention from the principal issue of the breach.

According to them, the BJP is also trying to shield their Lok Sabha members who issued passes to those responsible for the security breach.

Meanwhile, senior CPI(M) leader Shamik Lahiri has also questioned the Chief Minister’s silence but from a different perspective.

“The Chief Minister’s silence is prompted by her clandestine understanding with BJP and RSS. That is why she is also silent in the matter like the Prime Minister and the Union home minister,” Lahiri said.

State Congress spokesman Soumya Aich Roy said that the total silence of the Chief Minister is really surprising especially when a link of the mastermind with West Bengal has surfaced.

“On one hand, she is claiming that she is taking the lead role in opposition INDIA bloc. But at the same time she is silent in the matter,” Aich Roy said.