West Bengal's industry minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the teachers' recruitment scam, was removed from his post on Thursday. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Nearly Rs 50 crore in cash, and gold believed to be in kilograms were recovered from apartments linked to Chatterjee's close associate Arpita Mukherjee, besides documents of properties and foreign exchange, as per officials of the Enforcement Directorate, which arrested them.
Earlier in the day, TMC general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had called for Partha Chatterjee's expulsion from the party and the ministry.
"Partha Chatterjee should be removed from ministry and all party posts immediately. He should be expelled. If this statement considered wrong, party has every right to remove me from all posts. I shall continue as a soldier of @AITCofficial (TMC)," Ghosh, also the party's spokesperson, tweeted.
"He (Partha Chatterjee) is saying why he would quit as minister. Why is he not saying in the public domain that he is innocent and has no relation with Arpita Mukherjee? What is stopping him from doing that? I have full faith in Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and I think they will take the appropriate decision," Ghosh said.
The comment came amid the opposition BJP and CPI(M)'s attack on the TMC for not taking any action against Chatterjee even as huge amounts of cash were recovered from properties linked to him.