Kolkata, Jul 9 (PTI) The power struggle within the TMC escalated on Thursday as Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee revived the Saradha chit fund scam to target Mamata Banerjee loyalist Kunal Ghosh, accusing him of having once levelled explosive allegations against the former CM.
Addressing a press conference in the assembly premises, Banerjee referred to Ghosh as the “managing director of a private limited company”, without naming him.
He claimed that while lodged in jail in the Saradha case, the former Rajya Sabha MP had written a letter to the PM, the Union home minister, the CBI and the ED, accusing the TMC leadership, including Mamata Banerjee, of corruption and misuse of chit fund money.
“The person who now calls me a traitor had himself written a sensational 91-page letter while he was a Trinamool MP. I have read it. It alleges that the chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) runs her political activities with chit fund money and even mentions what was to be done with the surplus Rs 30 crore. If that is true, who betrayed the party,” he asked.
Banerjee said the letter would soon be made public and urged the former CM to obtain a copy from Ghosh.
“Didi now has enough time. She should ask her present managing director for that letter and see who had actually lit the fuse to dismantle the party. If she doesn’t, I will courier it to her in 15 days,” he said.
Banerjee also demanded that central investigating agencies reopen investigations based on the contents of the letter.
Dismissing the allegations, Ghosh said the letter was well known to Mamata Banerjee.
“That letter has been memorised by Mamata Banerjee. He has stopped looking at his pillow and is now looking at me,” the Beleghata MLA said, raking up a previous controversy surrounding the LoP.
Recalling his imprisonment in the Saradha scam, Ghosh said he had acted as the first “whistleblower” in the case.
“I fought alone from jail. Where were all of you then? Some people in my own party had used my shoulder to fire their guns. The main person behind it is now dead. I was persuaded to leave the party then, but I refused. I don’t have to keep changing parties,” he said.
Ghosh also accused the LoP of humiliating Mamata Banerjee in the past and said politics could not be practised through “cheap theatrics”.
The war of words came in the backdrop of a split in the party, with the majority of the MLAs led by the LoP claiming they were the “real TMC”.
At a special session convened last month, they even removed the former CM as the chairperson of the party and named senior MLA Arup Roy to the post.
Twenty of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs also broke away and merged with Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), an unknown political outfit. They have extended support to the BJP-led NDA.
The feud has also triggered disputes over control of the party’s finances and assets, with the battle reaching the Election Commission. PTI PNT SOM
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