New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress leadership might have distanced itself from party leader Partha Chatterjee. Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested on Saturday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam. Even though for Chatterjee Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continues to be the sole and final source of solace, as became evident from his arrest memo, the Trinamool supremo has distanced herself from the developments of the case.
Meanwhile, ED officials informed that while filling in an arrest memo, procedure involves asking the person to be arrested the name and contact number of one person whom he/she might wish to contact while in custody, Partha Chatterjee mentioned the name and mobile number of Mamata Banerjee.
Chatterjee, who`s the state Commerce and Industries Minister as well as the party`s Secretary General, told reporters on Saturday, “I do not know where they are taking me. I tried, but I have not been able to contact my supreme leader Mamata Banerjee yet.”
However, that the comment did not go down well with the Trinamool leadershid became evident later on Saturday when four top leaders of the party convened a press conference and announced that the onus of the entire development lay with Chatterjee, and not the party.
At the press conference, West Bengal Transport Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim expressed doubts over Chatterjee`s claim to have tried to contact Mamata Banerjee. “As soon as an arrest is made, the phone is generally seized by the agency sleuths. So how could Partha Chatterjee try to contact the Chief Minister?” he said.
The party leadership also made it clear that it will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against Chatterjee if he is found guilty at the end of the investigation.
(With agency inputs)