Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday sacked Partha Chatterjee as a minister and from all party posts in the Trinamool Congress. The decision came days after Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged School Service Commission (SSC) scam.
Chatterjee was relieved from his role as the minister-in-charge, Department of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise, Department of Information Technology and Electronics and Department of Parliamentary Affairs. Following his sacking, Mamata will take additional charge of the departments that were under Chatterjee.
“Chatterjee will no longer hold any party posts. He’s been removed from the general secretary’s post, working committee member, Jago Bangla’s editor and from the disciplinary committee. TMC is the only party that has walked the talk. We don’t tolerate any form of corruption,” said TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee after the meeting.
The party decided to snap its ties with Chatterjee in a emergency disciplinary committee meeting at the TMC headquarters Thursday. Chatterjee, ironically, was heading this committee before.
Chatterjee — arrested by the ED Saturday — was the second most senior cabinet minister in the Mamata government. He was the state’s education minister from 2014 to 2021, during which time some alleged irregular and illegal appointments were made by the West Bengal School Service Commission in filling up of Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ staff.
Over the last five days, the ED has seized over Rs 50 crore in cash from one of Chatterjee’s close associates, Arpita Mukherjee, in Kolkata. The agency has also seized foreign currency, mobile handsets, land deeds, jewellery and gold bars from her flat. Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee have been remanded to ED custody till 3 August.
‘We want black money destroyed’
The TMC had earlier distanced itself from Chatterjee, and refrained from coming to his defense. CM Banerjee had Monday said that action would be taken against Chatterjee if he is found guilty.
“We want to know where the money came from and what is the source? How did so much black money come despite demonetisation?,” asked Abhishek at the meeting. “We wanted black money to be destroyed. Narendra Modi is as much responsible for this cash seizure as is Arpita Mukherjee,” he added.
The TMC has been facing the SSC scam heat after opposition parties, including national BJP leaders, sharpened their attack on the Mamata government. Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, while addressing the media in New Delhi, said, “Those who care about maa, maati, manush (TMC’s slogan) only care about money.”
Also read: ‘Mamata with a modern touch’: Why Trinamool has come around to Abhishek as party heir