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Partha Chatterjee, accused in West Bengal SSC recruitment scam, was suspended from the Trinamool Congress, hours after being sacked from the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Thursday, 28 July.
"Partha Chatterjee has been removed from the TMC, along with the post of general secretary, national vice president and three other posts. He has been suspended till the investigation is underway. He can come back if proven not guilty," Banerjee stated.
He indicated that the decision was taken by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Chatterjee, who was incharge of the Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Department of Parliamentary Affairs, and Department of Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction, "is hereby relieved of his duties as minister in charge," an official statement from the state government earlier said.
Meanwhile, after announcing his exit from the cabinet, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "My party takes strict action. There are many plannings behind it but I don't want to go into details," news agency ANI quoted.
As per a government notice, Banerjee will look after all four ministries which Parth Chatterjee was handling.
Abhishek Banerjee earlier chaired a meeting of the party's disciplinary committee at TMC Bhawan on Thursday evening.
BJP Stages Protests, CPI(M) Asks for CM's Resignation
This comes amid protests by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, who held a march from College Square to Rani Rashmoni road in Kolkata against the SSC scam and corruption in the state.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) also targeted the state government saying that the mere removal of Partha Chatterjee from the cabinet, will not set things right. It further went on the seek West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's resignation.
The disciplinary meeting was convened hours after TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh demanded that Chatterjee be sacked from the Cabinet and expelled from the party after nearly Rs 50 crore in cash was recovered from properties linked to him.
He had said in a tweet on Thursday morning, "Partha Chatterjee should be removed from ministry and all party posts immediately. He should be expelled. If this statement is considered wrong, the party has every right to remove me from all posts.”
Ghosh later told reporters that he has full faith in CM Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee who, he thinks, will take an appropriate decision.
Echoing him, TMC spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya, whose 'Khela Hobe' song headlined the party's 2021 election campaign, also demanded that Chatterjee be expelled.
"As a party worker, I feel that we don't deserve this public humiliation because of one person. The leadership should take note of it and expel him from the party," he said.
Banerjee had earlier said that if someone is found guilty, she would not spare that person, even if he is a minister.
Meanwhile, Nameplate of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was removed from outside his cabin in Nabanna, Howrah
Around Rs 50 Cr Seized from Arpita Mukherjee So Far
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate arrived at Partha Chatterjee's aide, Arpita Mukherjee's New Town residence in Kolkata, allegedly in connection to the SSC Scam.
Earlier on Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered Rs 27.9 crore in cash along with gold jewellery from an Arpita's apartment.
In total, around Rs 50 crore in cash has been seized by the central agency so far, officials said.
What Is the Alleged SSC Scam?
The alleged scam occurred when Chatterjee was in charge of state education.
It involved alleged irregularities 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 (WBSSC).
The charges levelled against Chatterjee is that he provided jobs in exchange for money to those candidates who had obtained lower marks in the exam over those who had cleared the exam on merit.
It was also alleged that the ranks of students in the exam were changed.
A petitioner named Babita Sarkar had also filed a case against Ankita Adhikari, the daughter of West Bengal Minister of State (MoS) for Education Paresh Adhikari, claiming that Ankita's name was on the merit list despite there being more deserving candidates.
For the teacher's recruitment, Sarkar was ranked 20th in the merit list, but her rank was later changed to 21st when Adhikari was featured on the list.
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