Kolkata: When Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been trying to distance herself and the party regarding the ongoing SSC recruitment scam where minister Partha Chatterjee has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, the former education minister (sarcastically!) told that 'What the party Supremo has said is absolutely correct!"
Reacting to the chief minister's remarks - 'If anyone is found guilty he or she should be punished' - the sate minister for commerce and industry supported her remarks and said that she was absolutely correct. Though it was not understood whether the trusted aide of Mamata Banerjee has sarcastically made the remarks or not but political observers believe that veteran politicians remarks has a deeper significance. Chatterjee made the remark on her return from Bhuvaneshwar where he was sent by the court for medical check up.
Chatterjee's remarks come a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee has desperately tried to distance herself and the party from the ongoing controversy. Banerjee in a function at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday repeatedly said that she doesn't take money from the government even and she manages with the money she earns from royalties and selling of her photographs.
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"I don't support corruption. I get Rs 1 lakh pension from Parliament and Rs 2 lakh as a state MLA. Now count how much money I have made in the last 11 years. I have not taken a single penny besides this. My service is voluntary. Friends, I am sad and disheartened at the attitude of some political party in the last two days," said Banerjee.
On Monday, the Chief Minister said, "I want the judge to punish the guilty within three months. Let the truth be judged. I myself do not believe that anyone can do this incident. Whether it is a fact or a rumour, it will also be judged. Our party will accept whatever judgement is given by the court of law. No matter how severe the punishment is, we will not interfere in the trial. I don't mind if he is awarded life imprisonment."
The chief minister's version made it palpably clear that she and the party has been in an uneasy situation after the arrest of Partha Chatterjee and the recovery of more than 21 crores from Chatterjee's close friend Arpita Mukherjee's house. Political observers were surprised to find that the lady who sat on a demonstration protesting against the CBI raid at the then Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar's house is trying to distance herself from a person who has been with her since the birth of Trinamool Congress.
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Mamata even referring to Subhash Chandra Bose's book "Right to Make Blunders', said, "People can make mistakes. There is a saying, Making mistakes is also a right. But if you make a mistake knowingly then it becomes a crime" - making subtle allowances for the mistakes committed by party members.
Distancing herself even from Arpita Mukherjee, the chief minister had said, "I don't know her. It is not possible for me to know who is whose friend. I was introduced to her in a puja inauguration and now some political parties are making noise over it. I respect women but all are not good. I want the truth to come out. A verdict should be given based on the truth, within a given time frame. If someone is found guilty, I do not mind if they are punished with life imprisonment."
A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials raided the residences of Bengal ministers Partha Chatterjee and Paresh Adhikari on July 22 as part of its probe into a SSC recruitment scam. The ED claimed that they have recovered some sensitive documents and also recovered cash worth Rs 21 crore from Arpita Mukherjee's house. Besides cash, 20 mobile phones and several crucial documents were also recovered, the source from the directorate said.
