Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee said on Sunday that names of those responsible for an alleged conspiracy to frame him would be revealed in due course and the money (found in possession of his associate Arpita Mukherjee) did not belong to him, prompting derision from the Trinamul Congress, of which he had been the secretary-general till Thursday.
The former Number Two in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet — divested of all ministerial responsibilities and suspended from posts in the party on Thursday — was asked by journalists on Sunday whose money (to the tune of Rs 49.8 crore in cash) which had been found in two of Mukherjee’s flats was. Chatterjee’s reply was terse: “I have no money.”
Chatterjee was being brought to an ESI hospital in Joka, on the outskirts of Calcutta, by the Enforcement Directorate for a health check-up when journalists asked him the question.
Later, while being taken out of the hospital, he was asked the same question again.
“Not mine. Not mine. Not mine,” said the 69-year-old. “I have never done any money dealing.”
This was the first time that Chatterjee said something to this effect since his arrest by the central probe agency on July 23 following the first cash seizure at one of Mukherjee’s flats.
On Thursday, a day after the second haul from another flat, Chatterjee was dropped from the government and the party. On Friday, Chatterjee had said he was a victim of conspiracy, choosing to defend himself somewhat cryptically and appearing to draw a distinction between Mamata Banerjee and the party.
In a follow-up to the allegations he had levelled on Friday, the journalists on Sunday asked Chatterjee who was conspiring against him.
“You will understand when the time comes,” he said.
A member of Trinamul’s so-called old guard, to which Chatterjee belonged, said on the condition of anonymity that the now-sacked industries and parliamentary affairs minister was “clearly appalled” by the way the party had got rid of him.
“Most of us still cannot believe that Partha, of all people, is being dropped like a hot potato. If this could happen to him, it could happen to any of us,” he said.
Trinamul responded with disdain to Chatterjee’s latest remarks.
“He had all the time, all those days, between his arrest and the action (against him) to make these claims. He started doing so only after the actions were taken. If he had nothing to do with the money, why did he not say so all this while?” asked Trinamul state general-secretary Kunal Ghosh, known now as a public voice of a lobby led by the party’s national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The frosty relationship between Chatterjee and Abhishek had been one of Trinamul’s worst-kept secrets.
“What will he claim next, he does not know Arpita Mukherjee? What after that, that he is unsure of being Partha Chatterjee?” asked Ghosh. “He is free to share with the judiciary whatever he has by way of information or evidence.”
Abhishek played the lead role in making an example out of Chatterjee with the swift and severe action against the latter, which shocked even many seniors in the leadership.
Sources in Trinamul have repeatedly admitted that Chatterjee’s removal from the cabinet and the party posts delivered a degree of satisfaction to sections, especially those owing allegiance to Abhishek, which hoped there would be a “much-needed” restructuring in the leadership and the state government. The sources said a major reshuffle of the cabinet was likely on Monday.
The BJP’s Bengal chief, Sukanta Majumdar, said Chatterjee should tell the court everything he knew and got his name cleared if he was really innocent. “If he is being truthful, he should cooperate with the investigation and share everything with the court. If he is not responsible, those in his party or the state government who actually are should be brought to book,” said Majumdar.
