New Delhi: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress – battling a cash-for-jobs scandal – has taken a strong view of its senior leader Partha Chatterjee’s alleged role in it.
The party leadership has called a meeting Thursday evening following the recovery of unprecedented amounts of cash from two houses of the minister’s close associate, Arpita Mukherjee.
Chatterjee and actor and model Arpita Mukherjee are in custody of the Enforcement Directorate which is sniffing a money trail in the recruitment of government teachers when the Trinamool leader was education minister.
The agency apparently recovered Rs 50 crore in cash and several kilograms of gold from Arpita Mukherjee’s flats in Kolkata. Several “vital” documents were also seized in the raids, ED officers said.
WB SSC recruitment scam | North 24-Parganas: ED officials leave the Belgharia residence of Arpita Mukherjee, close aide of WB Minister Partha Chatterjee, after filling 10 trunks with cash amounting to approx Rs 29cr found there; a total of Rs 40cr found from her premises so far. pic.twitter.com/t9gEIHyb08
— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2022
The central agency found Rs 29 crore cash in Arpita Mukherjee’s Belgharia residence Wednesday night, days after officers recovered Rs 21 crore from her Tollygunge flat.
On Thursday morning, party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh demanded Partha Chatterjee’s expulsion. “He should be removed from ministry (sic) and all party posts immediately,” Ghosh tweeted.
West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in SSC scam case, should be expelled: TMC's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 28, 2022
Ghosh later deleted the tweet, saying it was his personal opinion. “As @AITCofficial has taken up the matter, I am deleting the personal one,” he said in a fresh tweet.
In my earlier tweet, I had expressed my opinion.
Now, the party has taken up the issue.
Avishek Banerjee has convened party meeting today 5pm at TMC bhawan. I have been told to attend that meeting also.
So, as @AITCofficial has taken up the matter, I am deleting the personal one.
— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) July 28, 2022
Chatterjee is currently minister of commerce and industry, parliamentary affairs, information technology and electronics, public enterprises and industrial reconstruction.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said anyone found guilty in the scam must be punished, but also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for “overly using” central agencies to topple Opposition governments.
Meanwhile, ED officials have found Arpita Mukherjee very cooperative during interrogation. She was leading the agency to her properties in and around Kolkata, officers said.
The irregularities in the recruitment of Group C, D staff as well as teachers in government schools on recommendation of the West Bengal School Service Commission is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The ED is tracking the alleged financial transactions that may have taken place.
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