Mamata expels tainted minister Partha Chatterjee

Partha Chatterjee, the main accused in the unfolding West Bengal SSC recruitment scam, was on Thursday sacked by TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Partha was the minister in charge for Department of Industry, Commerce and Enterprises, Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Department of Parliamentary Affairs and Department of Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction. The announcement of his dismissal was made through a notification issued by the West Bengal government.

Partha’s sacking came amid party leaders raising objections against his continuation in the TMC-led government, particularly after the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

arrested the minister and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee on Friday last week when the central agency seized Rs. 21 cr in cash, jewellery and foreign currency. The central agency had conducted raids at 14 other places in various districts that day.

The ED on Wednesday seized Rs. 27.90 cr, along with 3 kg of gold bars and jewellery worth Rs. 4.31 cr, after a raid on Arpita’s house in Belgharia. The anti-money laundering agency has so far seized about Rs. 50 cr and other valuables. A mysterious black diary was also recovered by ED officials on Friday.

In an unprecedented move, Mamata informed the Raj Bhavan on Thursday morning about Partha having been sacked by her government. A Cabinet meeting was also held in the day but it ended in 15 minutes, sources told The Daily Guardian. There was no discussion on the minister’s sacking in the meeting, though it was expected to come up for discussion.

The tainted minister was also expelled from the post of party general secretary and spokesperson by TMC president Abhishek Banerjee after a TMC Discipline Committee meeting in the evening.

In the meanwhile, the ED officials on Thursday reached Arpita’s Royal Residency flat at Chinar Park in New Town in Kolkata, accompanied by central force personnel but could not conduct search on the premises owing to a power failure. They will resume the search operation on Friday. According to sources, the investigators have recovered huge stashes of money along with other valuables after every raid they have conducted on premises owned by Arpita.