‘Expel Partha Chatterjee or remove me’: TMC spokesperson tweets, then deletes because...

Trinamool national spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Thursday issued a statement in which he said West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee should be removed from ministry and all party posts immediately. Calling for his expulsion, Kunal Ghosh tweeted, “If this statement considered wrong, party has every right to remove me from all posts. I shall continue as a soldier of @AITCofficial.” Also Read: ₹28 cr cash, 5 kg gold found at Arpita Mukherjee's house after ED's 18-hr raid

The statement from the national spokesperson comes following days of denial of the unfolding scam in connection with the recruitment of teachers in West Bengal. The Trinamool so far maintained a distance with the crores of money recovered from Arpita Mukherjee, said to be a close aide of Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, and said the party has no connection with the money recovered. Kunal Ghosh himself dismissed the charges earlier.

However, Kunal Ghosh's explosive statement is his personal remark, he made it clear as he asked the party to take action against him if the party considers his demand wrong.

Later in the day, Kunal Ghosh deleted the tweet and said since the party has taken up the issue, he has deleted it. “In my earlier tweet, I had expressed my opinion. Now, the party has taken up the issue.Avishek Banerjee has convened party meeting today 5pm at TMC bhawan. I have been told to attend that meeting also. So, as @AITCofficial has taken up the matter, I am deleting the personal one,” he tweeted.

On Wednesday, Kunal Ghosh came clear and said he hopes that the party would take note of the public perception as the recovery of cash from Arpita Mukherjee's house brought 'disgrace' and 'shame' to everyone.

As the ED was raiding the second premise linked to Arpita Mukherjee, Kunal Ghosh asked why Partha Chatterjee is not claiming innocence if he is not guilty. "This development is a matter of great concern. Such incidents have brought disgrace to the party and shame to all of us. He (Partha Chatterjee) is saying why he would quit as minister. Why is he not saying in the public domain that he is innocent? What is stopping him from doing that?" he said.

Demands for removing Partha Chatterjee from the Cabinet have been raised by the BJP earlier. The minister himself, however, countered such questions and said to reporters, "Why should I resign?"

Under ED custody, the minister has not cooperated with the investigation, though his aide Arpita Mukherjee apparently told the investigators that those crores of money came from Partha Chatterjee. It is alleged that the recovered amount has links with the teacher recruitment scam that took place when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister. As of now, he serves as the minister of commerce and industries.