Suspended Trinamool Leader Has Questions For Mukul Roy

Kolkata: Kunal Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress parliamentarian suspended from the party after his links with the Saradha Ponzi scheme landed him in jail, launched a blistering attack on Mukul Roy, the TMC parliamentarian who switched over to BJP just 10 days ago.

"Mukul Roy is now accusing the Trinamool of all kinds of things," Mr Ghosh said on Saturday. "But all those things happened under his watch as general secretary. He must explain."

The four key issues, according to Mr Ghosh are horse-trading, the Alchemist Ponzi scheme, coupon sales controversy and the loans vs donations issue.

On Friday, after Mr Roy addressed a rally in Kolkata for the first time as a BJP leader and attacked the TMC, Partha Chatterjee, a senior minister, accused Mr Roy of indulging in horse-trading.

Mr Ghosh said Mr Roy must explain why and under whose instruction he indulged in horse-trading.

On the Alchemist Ponzi scheme, Mr Ghosh said that the BJP leader must explain why -- while several owners of Ponzi schemes are now behind bars -- no action has been taken against the owner of Alchemist, KD Singh, who is also a TMC Rajya Sabha parliamentarian.

Mr Ghosh also slammed Mr Roy over the 2011 coupon sales controversy. A Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader had accused the TMC, including Mr Roy, of selling fake coupons to show the party's source of funds when it was allegedly legitimising Ponzi money. Mukul Roy must explain what really happened, Mr Ghosh said.
 Mr Ghosh went on to corner the new BJP leader over the loans vs donations issue. At least Rs 9.18 crore in TMC's account have been shown as donations by companies, including by a firm called Trinetra Consultants, Mr Ghosh alleged. But the companies have in their books shown the money as "loaned" to the TMC, he alleged.

Mr Roy must clarify on all these matters, Mr Ghosh said, adding if the funds are proved to be "black" then the Election Commission may punish the TMC.

"I am a loyal soldier of the Trinamool," Mr Ghosh said. "I am anticipating these issues may be used against the party in the near future. I want to alert my party and also demand Mr Roy to explain. He cannot shrug off his responsibility," he said.

Kunal Ghosh's remarks came after Mukul Roy, just after joining BJP, met with him at his house in Kolkata in what was described as a courtesy call. On whether he has been invited by Mr Roy to join BJP, Mr Ghosh said, "I have good relations with Mr Roy. But I have nothing to say about joining BJP."

Mr Ghosh also had a message for West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh. "At Friday's meeting, Dilip Da said if you want to avoid going to Bhubaneswar or Patna, join the BJP. Which sounded like, if you are guilty, join BJP to escape any action from authorities. That is not a smart thing for Dilip Da to say. I will speak to him and tell him so," Mr Ghosh said.

Mr Ghosh, however, said there is nothing strange about Mr Roy joining the BJP. "In the past, the Trinamool had joined hands with BJP, so why not Mr Roy? In fact, back in the late 80s, even the CPM held BJP's hands."

Kunal Ghosh is out on bail for links with a Ponzi scheme. People familiar with the matter say Mr Ghosh was once close to the TMC top leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and has in-depth knowledge about the party's affairs.