Arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee suspended, removed from all posts
He was the state secretary general, a member of the national working committee and a member of party's disciplinary committee.
Partha Chatterjee, who was earlier sacked as a West Bengal cabinet minister after being arrested by the ED over the state SSC scam case, has been suspended from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and removed from all party posts on Thursday. He was the state secretary general, a member of the national working committee and a member of the party's disciplinary committee.
“There will be zero tolerance for corruption. Investigating agency must complete the probe within the time limit. Even in the Sarada case nothing happened, it's just lingering. There should be a time-bound investigation,” TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said.
Abhishek said the TMC is the only party that intervened within seven days in the matter. “I agree huge sums of money were recovered. But every day, bank frauds are happening, what action did the BJP take? Nirav Modi flew away, did the BJP sack Nirmala Sitharaman? It's the TMC which walks the talk,” the TMC MP said.
The move comes hours after the West Bengal government removed Chatterjee, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a school jobs scam, from the ministry with immediate effect.
"Partha Chatterjee, minister in charge, department of industry, commerce and enterprises, 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 MIC of the aforesaid department with immediate effect," an official order said.
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Chief minister Mamata Banerjee later said at a government event that she will look after the portfolios held by Chatterjee for the time being.
The ED had arrested Chatterjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress secretary-general, on July 23 in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission (SSC).
The central agency has also arrested Chatterjee’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee, and seized crores of rupees from her houses in different parts of the city.