Navjot Sidhu said whatever is happening in West Bengal will only strengthen the opposition.

Punjab minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is being made to act like a "puppet" and there is an attempt to turn democracy into "danda tantra".

Mr Sidhu's remarks came in the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's sit-in against the CBI's attempt to question the Kolkata police commissioner in connection with chit fund scam cases.

"CBI is an independent and autonomous institution but you (the Centre) have made it a puppet...what prompted four judges of Supreme Court to come out in open and hold a press conference (last year)...? See the condition of RAW and how CBI chief was treated when he was trying to project a truth.

"Democracy has been turned into 'danda tantra' (rule of the stick)," said Mr Sidhu, adding the CBI's image has taken a beating.

Lending his support to Ms Banerjee, Mr Sidhu said whatever is happening in West Bengal will only strengthen the opposition.

"Because people are seeing how you are trying to demean a state government which was voted by people of the state, by using muscle power and abusing CBI," he said.

Asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's formal entry into politics, he said she has injected a positive energy into the Congress which will benefit from her charismatic personality.

"She has not been given an easy task. She has been made in-charge of UP (Eastern) and the task she has been assigned is arduous and daunting," he said.