Refuting the claims of Trinamool Congress that the Centre was using agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to break the unity of political parties, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday said that it is not the job of the agencies to form or break any party.
"It is not the job of agencies to form or break any party, but busting the scandals and scams is. The agencies have reached the right places by using the right means, that is why such huge numbers of bundles of the notes are being recovered," Mr Ghosh told ANI.
"The people who are lying and are trying to hide it now, what will the public say? Did you garner their votes for this? You can loot Rs 21 crore by winning in 21 (2021 WB polls), who gave you this right?" he added further.
The remarks of the BJP MP came days after TMC minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and West Bengal Primary Education Board recruitment scam, which came following the raids by the central probe agency where it seized crores in cash from the premises of his close associate Arpita Mukherjee.
The ED unearthed many disproportionate assets of Partha Chatterjee since his arrest, including three flats in West Bengal's Diamond City.
The arrest of Partha Chatterjee followed Rs 21 crore in cash and jewellery worth above Rs 1 crore being recovered from the Kolkata residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of the former education minister Partha Chatterjee.
The ED raided Arpita Mukerjee's house in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal. "The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC scam," the probe agency had said in a statement.
The search teams are taking the assistance of bank officials for the counting of cash through counting machines. Photos of the house taken during the raid show Rs 000 and Rs 500 notes that were recovered.
Partha Chatterjee, who is presently the minister for industries and commerce, was the education minister when the alleged illegal appointments were made in government-run and schools aided by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
The ruling Trinamool Congress described the raids as a "ploy" by the BJP government at the Centre to "harass" its political opponents.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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