‘Won’t tolerate malpractice in govt': TMC after West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee's arrest by ED

New Delhi: West Bengal minister and senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said the Mamata Banerjee-led party is “watching” the situation on the arrest of state Industry and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday (July 23) in connection with alleged school jobs scam. Hakim said TMC will await the court’s decision on the SSC recruitment scam and take action accordingly. “We're watching the situation and have faith in judiciary. TMC will not tolerate any discrepancy or malpractice in party or in govt. TMC will act after the judiciary comes out with its verdict,” the TMC leader was quoted as saying by ANI. 

Further, accusing ED of being “politically influenced” by the BJP, Hakim said, “In today's situation, it seems like ED is being run by BJP. If Suvendu Adhikari is saying that a lot of things are going to be found in the future even before ED is giving any statement. It means that ED is politically influenced by BJP.” 

We're watching the situation & have faith in judiciary. TMC will not tolerate any discrepancy or malpractice in party or in govt. TMC will act after the judiciary comes out with its verdict: TMC leader Firhad Hakim on the arrest of Partha Chatterjee by ED in SSC recruitment scam pic.twitter.com/3GqI8XMReJ — ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2022

TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, who was the state education minister from 2014 to 2021 when the alleged irregularities took place, was arrested after around 26 hours of questioning at his residence. His close aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose property Rs 21 crore in cash was seized during a raid on Friday, was also arrested by ED. 

Chatterjee was produced before a judge in Bankshall court in Kolkata and sent to ED custody for two days. When asked if he tried to contact West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he told reporters, "I tried, but could not connect (to her)."

Chatterjee's counsel told mediapersons that he will be produced before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Monday.

BJP has upped its attack on the ruling TMC dispensation in Bengal, calling it a "government of corrupts". Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia alleged, "The TMC government has crossed all limits of misgovernance and corruption. The level of corruption in the state is just shocking and unprecedented. The TMC government is no longer a government for the people, it is rather the government of corrupts. The entire government is knee-deep in corruption." 

(With agency inputs)