In the ongoing campaign for Assembly elections in West Bengal, TMC chairperson and CM, Mamata Banerjee has, for the first time, conceded to the reality of bribery charges leveled against several senior leader of her party in the Narada video sting. Addressing a late evening public meeting in Kolkata yesterday, Ms. Banerjee, said it is too late to act in the matter in the current elections; due steps will follow after the controversy is probed.<br/> <br/>The opposition parties have been demanding a bar on the TMC leaders, allegedly shown in the sting, from contesting in the current elections.<br/> <br/>The TMC chief and her leaders have for over a month been terming the sting operation as a joint conspiracy of BJP, Congress and CPI-M, also claiming that it has been engineered using foreign black money.<br/> <br/>Her public statement comes close on the heels of senior BJP leader and PM Narendra Modi's assertion that Mamata has forfeited chances of her party's victory in the state by promoting massive corruption from Saradha to Narada and the flyover tragedy-oriented syndicate Raj. Addressing BJP rallies in Nadia and Kolkata, Mr Modi said TMC leaders were minting money by selling the state and the future of its youth on camera.<br/> <br/>Ms. Banerjee's latest stand and comments have elicited very sharp reactions from the opposition parties. CPI-M MP Mohammad Salim said, realizing that she is fast losing her grounds in the elections, the TMC chief is trying to hoodwink the people. He asked, what prevented Mamata from directing withdrawal of nominations by the tainted TMC leaders because withdrawal dates were still due when the sting operation exploded in the state's election bound environment. And if she is so sincere about her forthrightness, why is her former transport minister, jailed in Saradha chit-fund scam, has been allowed to contest by the party, Mr. Salim countered.<br/> <br/>After Ms. Banerjee's rejoinder to Mr. Modi's charges, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh insisted that Didi and Modi were indulging in a fixed bout of boxing. His party colleague in Bengal, Abdul Mannan also questioned the chief minister's latest stand, asking why she has not requested for a CBI investigation till date into the video sting.