KOLKATA: A controversial deal between Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Ltd IRCTC ) and Saradha Tours and Travels has stirred up a hornet's nest in Bengal politics on the eve of two crucial assembly bypolls on September 13.The deal was signed during Mamata Banerjee’s tenure as railway minister. It was part of Bharat Tirth project that Mamata announced in her railway budget for 2010-11.The deal has come handy to Opposition parties that have gone to town with it to tear into Mamata's 'satatar pratik' (symbol of honesty) image. Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury has even demanded that Mamata resign and face an inquiry. "The deal points to the direct involvement of the then railway minister. She should step down from the CM’s post and face the inquiry. She may resume office only if she comes out clean," Adhir said on Thursday.The Pradesh Congress chief may have stepped over a line, but his offensive is not without reason. The Congress leader draws his strength from the defensive statement of Mamata’s lieutenant and former railway minister Mukul Roy, who was more interested in clearing himself than defending his leader."It (the deal) didn’t happen during my tenure. Authorities like CAG will look into it," Roy, the Trinamool national secretary, had said. Sensing that his statement did more damage to his party than good for himself, Roy went back on his statement and claimed he was quoted out of context.Roy’s flip-flop apart, it's a fact that there has been no solid backing of Mamata from the Trinamool camp as yet. Calcutta high court lawyer and Congress leader Arunava Ghosh raised some pertinent questions on the deal. "I am not saying that the deal should be seen as proceeds of the Saradha crime. But the railways has to explain why tours under the project were awarded to Saradha without floating any tender. And this, when Saradha Tours didn’t have the required five-year experience," he said.The Opposition says the railway expose has hit the bull’s eye in the Saradha probe. It points to the Trinamool chief’s giving favour to the Saradha Group that had donated ambulances and motorbikes to the Mamata government for Jangalmahal. The deal has surfaced a year after Mamata took the high moral ground after the Saradha bubble burst."Kunal chor, Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) chor, Mukul chor, ami chor, aar apnara sobai sadhu? If they are thieves, you (CPM) are not innocent either," Mamata had said, trying to drag CPM into the muck that her party was in. A year down the line, Kunal Ghosh is in custody, Srinjoy has been questioned by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), and ministers Madan Mitra and Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, and MPs Arpita Ghosh and Ahmad Hassan Imran are under CBI scanner.CBI has also raided the house of Trinamool leaders Rajat Majumdar and Asif Khan in connection with the Saradha scam. Investigators have summoned state textiles minister Shyamaprasad Mukherjee as a suspected beneficiary of the proceeds of crime. Documents with law enforcement agencies indicate that the minister sold as much as 7 acres of government land to Saradha boss Sudipta Sen during the sale of his cement factory at Bankura at an exorbitant price. This is not all. The Saradha group had acquired 171 acres of prime land in the state, raising eyebrows in industry circles because it was something that even big industry houses couldn’t.The proceeds of the ill-gotten money went to various individuals and Bhowanipore football clubs apart from the media and entertainment sector. CBI is now interrogating East Bengal Club official Debabrata Sarkar alias Nitu who has allegedly taken crores from Sen by promising him to "manage Sebi and RBI".Enforcement directorate has found documents showing Saradha money transferred from a Goa bank’s Panjim branch to the account of a Mohun Bagan Club footballer’s daughter. Saradha money also went to many football clubs through a Trinamool leader.Caught in the Saradha muddle, the Trinamool chief did what she has been doing against her adversaries. Mamata stepped up the ante against the Centre at a public gathering a few days ago. "If you spread canards, remember we are not dead ... We do not need money and multi-crore advertising to win elections," Mamata had said at the meeting. Soon after this, she told a private television channel that she was not averse to an alliance with the Left to keep BJP at bay. Whatever her aim, the message didn’t go down well in her own party that is facing a tough battle in Basirhat South assembly segment where BJP was ahead by 30,000 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls.IRCTC issued a statement on Thursday, saying Saradha Tours & Travels was never a service provider and got no special privileges.