CM Mamata Tight-Lipped When Agencies Expose Political Corruption: BJP After Partha Chatterjee's Arrest

West Bengal SSC Scam: Opposition BJP sought Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement over the arrest of state minister Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam case.

While the Opposition BJP went hammer and tongs over Partha Chatterjee's arrest, the TMC stated that its leaders were keeping a close watch on the situation. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: Several senior BJP leaders on Saturday mounted an attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government following the arrest of state minister Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam case.

"This is evidence of the fact that how people's money is being sacrificed for corruption in Bengal. People will get to completely know about it, I am confident": news agency ANI quoted Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia as saying about West Bengal SSC scam.

Chatterjee was the state education minister when the scam allegedly took place, he was arrested after around 26 hours of grilling in connection with the probe.

ED also detained Chatterjee's close aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose property Rs 21 crore in cash was seized, PTI reported an agency official as stating.

Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stressed "political corruption" in West Bengal under the Trinamool Congress rule.

"Yesterday the country and the people of West Bengal in particular, saw the shameful sight of a mountain of cash being unearthed during a raid by ED on a close colleague of a West Bengal minister. This throws a spotlight on political corruption in West Bengal," Chandrasekhar said.

"It leads to a question, or rather answers it, about Mamata Banerjee's leadership... of abusing ED, leading attack of disinformation against investigative agencies, and giving a political colour to investigation and prosecution of political corruption," he added, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister alleged that CM Mamata tries to intimidate law enforcement agencies so that no case of corruption in her government comes to light.

"CM Mamata Banerjee speaks against ED and CBI, but remains tight-lipped whenever these agencies expose political corruption. She tries to intimidate law enforcement agencies to thwart their investigation, so no case of corruption in her government comes to light," he said.

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP sought the Chief Minister's statement over the arrest.

"The CM must issue a statement over the arrest of a cabinet minister. The arrest proves that the TMC is knee-deep in corruption," BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh said.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said Chatterjee's arrest reflects the "Bengal model of development" practised by TMC leaders.

"Involvement of TMC ministers and leaders in corruption is an example of 'Bengal model of development'. The seizure of Rs 21 crore in cash is just the tip of the iceberg. The CM should come out with a reply on this," he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Chatterjee, who was the state education minister from 2014 to 2021, was grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April and May this year in connection with the scam.

While the Opposition BJP went hammer and tongs over the development, the TMC stated that its leaders were keeping a close watch on the situation.

TMC Keeping A 'Close Watch'

"We are keeping a close watch on the situation. We will come out with a statement at an appropriate time," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Speaker Biman Banerjee said the ED must inform the speaker before arresting a member of the assembly.

"The ED or CBI, while arresting any MP or MLA, has to inform the speaker of the Lok Sabha or assembly. This is the constitutional norm. But I have not received any communication from ED about Chatterjee's arrest," he said, as quoted by PTI.

Earlier, the ruling Trinamool described the raids by the ED as a "ploy" by the BJP-led Union government to "harass" its political opponents.

"This raid by ED, a day after the spectacular Martyrs' Day rally that created ripples all over the country, is nothing but an attempt to harass and intimidate leaders of the TMC. The CBI has already interrogated them (ministers) as part of a court directive and they are cooperating. Now, the ED is being invoked only to discredit them. The money-laundering issue is being invented by the BJP," West Bengal Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said.

The ED's money-laundering case stems from an FIR by the CBI, which was first directed by the Calcutta High Court to investigate the alleged scam in the recruitment of Group 'C' and 'D' staff, assistant teachers of classes 11 and 11, and primary teachers.

Besides Partha Chatterjee, the probe agency launched coordinated searches at the premises of his aide Arpita Mukherjee, Minister of State for Education Paresh C Adhikary, MLA and ex-president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya, Chandan Mondal alias Ranjan, a "tout" who allegedly used to make money on the promise of giving school teacher jobs,  and a number of other persons.

(With Agency Inputs)