The Trinamool Congress, which has asked its leader and Union Minister Sultan Ahmed to pay up a bill of Rs 37 lakh for staying in the plush Ashok Hotel here, today blamed Tourism Ministry officials for misguiding the first-time MP.
The party also said that it suspected the CPI(M), Left
Front partners and “even some friendly parties” of being behind “efforts to defame” it.
Trinamool’s Parliamentary Party, headed by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, met late last night and asked Ahmed to “rectify his mistakes”.
It also asked Ahmed to vacate the five-star hotel accommodation with immediate effect, the party’s Chief Whip in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay told PTI here.
Ahmed, the Minister of State for Tourism, has been staying in the Ashok for the past six months in the absence of a government house.
“It was brought to our knowledge that our party MoS, Sultan Ahmed, has run up a bill of Rs 37 lakh at the Ashok Hotel,” he said, adding that Ahmed “has been asked to pay for all the extra expenses from his own pocket.”
Bandopadhyay said, “We doubt that the CPI(M), the Left Front partners and even some friendly parties are behind this effort to defame our party”.
He claimed Ahmed was a new member and was asked by Tourism Ministry officials to move into Ashok Hotel. "He was obviously misguided."