Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that the onus of the teacher recruitment scam lies with Partha Chatterjee - who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the scam - and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee. The top leaders of Trinamool Congress have already distanced themselves from Chatterjee. Here are some top quotes of the Bengal Chief Minister against Partha.


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- If anyone is found guilty, he or she must be punished, but I condemn the malicious campaign against me.
- Truth must come out but within a time frame.
- BJP is wrong if it thinks it can break my party using agencies.
- The party has no relation with that lady (Arpita Mukherjee), neither do I know her. I attend several programmes, if someone gets clicked with me, is it my fault? I go for inauguration of many pujas. How am I supposed to know whom the organisers have invited? How could I know that she was Partha's friend? I do not spare even my party members if they are at fault. I do not and will not spare my own minister if found guilty.
- It has to be seen whether it (the investigation) is a trap to malign my party and me. I neither support corruption nor allow it to breed.


Meanwhile, party insiders said the Chief Minister is miffed about the entire incident, especially after it was revealed that ED's arrest memo for Chatterjee had her name and phone number in it as the contact person. Reacting to Banerjee's comments, the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said the Chief Minister is trying to save her own skin by putting the entire onus on Chatterjee. "She (Banerjee) is claiming that she was not aware that Arpita Mukherjee was Partha Chatterjee`s friend. But in that same programme, she could be heard praising Mukherjee and even referring to her fluency in Odia language. What is the Chief Minister trying to prove?" Adhikari asked.


(With Agency inputs)