Trinamool starts distancing itself from minister arrested in ration distribution case

Kolkata, Nov 1 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress leadership in West Bengal has started giving subtle hints of distancing itself from the state Forest Minister Jyotipriya Mallick after the latter’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week in connection with the alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.

Senior Trinamool leader and the state minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said on Wednesday that if Mallick’s involvement in corruption is proved, the party will not stand by him.

“I was very sad after Partha Chatterjee was arrested. I brought him to politics and after his arrest I felt perhaps this would not have been his fate had I not brought him to politics. I am equally sad after the arrest of Mallick, though I did not bring him to politics.

"Zero tolerance against corruption is the announced stand of the party and hence in case his involvement in corruption is proved, the party will not stand by him, as was done in the case of Partha,” Chattopadhyay said.

Mallick’s successor and the current Food & Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh too sounded reluctant to take responsibility for any irregularities that happened during the tenure of his predecessor.

“I took over as the Food & Supplies Minister in 2021. I can surely reply if there is any complaint of irregularity during my term. But how can I answer about any development that took place before I took over,” Ghosh asked.

Mallick was the Food & Supplies Minister from 2011 to 2021. After the 2021 Assembly elections, his portfolio was changed as he took over as the Forest Minister.

Meanwhile, Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmik said: “In the two-and-a-half years of the third term of the Trinamool Congress regime, not a single complaint of irregularities was made against any department of the state government.  This is the new Trinamool that our party’s national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee speaks of."