Partha Chatterjee writes to Mamata Banerjee questioning his suspension from TMC

Kolkata, Nov 12 Former Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General, Partha Chatterjee, on Tuesday, wrote a letter to party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, raising questions about his suspension from the party immediately after his arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal.

Chatterjee, who was released on bail from judicial custody earlier in the day after spending almost three years and three months behind bars, also forwarded a copy of the same letter to the Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party's Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, as well as to the party’s state president in West Bengal, Subrata Bakshi.

In his letter to the Chief Minister, Partha Chatterjee sought clarifications on the sections of the party constitution of Trinamool Congress under which his basic membership from the party was suspended.

To recall, after his arrest by the ED officials in July 2022, Trinamool Congress stripped the former West Bengal Education Minister of all his ministerial and organisational portfolios and also suspended his party membership for an indefinite period. The Trinamool Congress even abolished the post of the party's Secretary General, which was previously held by Chatterjee.

Party insiders who have continued to be close to Chatterjee even after his long tenure behind bars said that in the letter, Chatterjee also claimed that while in the past there had been instances of Trinamool Congress leadership standing by party leaders arrested by central agencies, an exception was made in his case.

Chatterjee still seems to be having a faint hope about his political comeback, as he said after his release that he will go to the people of Behala (Paschim) Assembly constituency, where he had served as a five-time Trinamool Congress legislator since 2001, and seek their views.

"I am answerable only to the people of the Behala (Paschim) seat, who never questioned my honesty. I will go to them and seek justice from them. I have full faith in the judicial system of the country. The truth will prevail at the end of the trial process," Chatterjee told media persons after returning to his ancestral home in South Kolkata on Tuesday.

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