Will take steps against arrested minister if proven guilty of school jobs scam: TMC

The Trinamool Congress on Saturday said that the party and the government will take action against arrested senior minister Partha Chatterjee if he is proven guilty of the school jobs scam.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also made it clear that presently the party would not remove Chatterjee as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the Trinamool Congress.

The party also claimed that it has no relation with the arrested minister’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee, from whose residence around Rs 21 crore in unaccounted cash was seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday.

"The TMC has full faith in the judiciary. If Partha Chatterjee is pronounced guilty by the court, the party and the government will take action against him," Ghosh told a press conference here.

The party's reaction came at least nine hours after the ED arrested Chatterjee who was the education minister when the alleged irregularities in the recruitment process took place.

Chatterjee was arrested by the ED after around 26 hours of grilling in his residence in connection with the probe since Friday morning.

Also Read: Partha Chatterjee: From trusted lieutenant of Mamata to 'scam-tainted' minister

Senior leader Firhad Hakim, who was also present at the press conference, claimed that had Chatterjee joined the BJP, no one would have touched him as the saffron party has turned into a “washing machine”.

In West Bengal’s political lexicon, “washing machine” is a political outfit which allows a leader to come out ‘taint free’ after joining it.

“We have seen that in the past, if a guilty leader joins the BJP, the person goes scot-free. It seems that the BJP is afraid of the huge gathering that the city witnessed at the party’s Martyrs Day rally on July 21," Hakim said.

Reacting to Chatterjee's claim that he tried to contact Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the questioning but could not connect to her, Hakim wondered how it was possible as phones are generally seized when any raid by the central agency begins.

The press conference came after an hour-long meeting at TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's office in the presence of the party's top brass.

On the arrest of Arpita Mukherjee, Ghosh said, “We want to clearly say that the party has no relation with the woman or the money that was recovered from her residence. The party neither supports any crime nor does it support any wrongdoing.”

The CBI, as directed by the Calcutta High Court, is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment of Group-C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and –aided schools on recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission. The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam.

The ED on Friday carried out simultaneous raids at the houses of around a dozen people, including Chatterjee and another minister, in connection with its investigation into the recruitment scam.