Partha Chatterjee will become a SAINT if...: TMC amid WB SSC scam row

Partha Chatterjee was on Thursday suspended from Trinamool Congress and all the party positions that he held in the party, ANI reported.

WB SSC scam: TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday hit back at the BJP on the Partha Chatterjee controversy and said if the arrested leader will join the BJP in future, he will be considered a saint. While addressing the media on the sacking of the SSC scam case accused Partha Chatterjee, who also held the post of TMC’s General Secretary, Banerjee accused the ruling BJP of specifically targeting Mamata’s party and added that he will not be seen as a culprit and if he suddenly joins BJP. However, the TMC has suspended Chatterjee from the party and other posts as well as relieved him from his duties as a state cabinet minister.

“I am saying this in a hypothetical way that if Partha Chatterjee goes to BJP after two months then he will become a saint. Since he is in TMC, all of these things are happening,” ANI quoted Abhishek Banerjee as saying.

WB SSC scam case: Partha Chatterjee suspended from TMC

Once known as Mamata Banerjee’s “right-hand man”, Partha Chatterjee was on Thursday suspended from Trinamool Congress and all the party positions that he held. The suspension came just hours after the West Bengal government, led by Mamata Banerjee sacked him from the state cabinet, in which he held the portfolio of Commerce and Industries.

Addressing the media, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, " I have removed Partha Chatterjee as a minister. My party takes strict action. There are many plannings behind it but I don't want to go into details."

Crores recovered from Partha Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee so far

Partha Chatterjee’s suspension from all his positions came after another stack of over Rs 29 crore was recovered from the second residence of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee along with 4 kilograms of gold and foreign exchange.

Earlier, another round of raids resulted in the recovery of Rs 20 crore from Mukherjee.

During the interrogation, Mukherjee told ED that the money belonged to Partha Chatterjee, who got it in exchange of transfers and providing accreditation to colleges during his term as the State Education Minister.