KOLKATA: Expressing serious concern Aroop Biswas, former sports minister in the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, has written to the party leadership alleging misappropriation of party funds.
The former Trinamool Congress MLA from Tollygunj seat in Kolkata, on Sunday has reportedly written a three-page letter to the party leadership in reply to a show-cause notice served to him recently and brought serious charges of financial irregularities allegedly related party funds lying with different accounts in a private bank.
Days after he wrote a letter to the private bank last week in the city urging it to freeze the accounts of the party so that no financial transactions can be made, claiming himself as a treasurer of the party the former heavyweight minister and a close aide to the party supremo and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The party leadership has recently issued him a show-cause notice seeking to know his clarification on his previous letter to the bank seeking to freeze the accounts.
The tussle for the status of “real Trinamool” has reached a stash of around Rs 675 crore in a bank vault and intensified further on Friday after a group of about 10 rebel Trinamool Congress MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Legislative Assembly, lodged complaint with the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate fearing illegal transactions of cut money in a bank account of the party virtually showing support to Aroop’s same appeal to the bank concerned.
Aroop raised an apprehension that unauthorised persons may misuse signed cheques and sought status quo until a competent authority resolves the matter.
With Ritabrata camp’s appeal, a tug of war between the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata, and rebels, who claim themselves as ‘real Trinamool’, has been escalated after the move related to who will take control of the party’s fund lying with the bank.
Police have already appealed the concerned bank to freeze three accounts with around Rs 440 crore of the party.
This significant development within the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata came amid the Calcutta High Court’s directive on Thursday giving its green signal to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose to recognise Ritabrata as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the House.
But questions are flying around about Aroop’s political identity at the backdrop of the ongoing crisis within the party. Which Trinamool is he? Mamata Banerjee’s or the rebel groups of ‘real Trinamool’ led by Ritabrata.
Sources belonging to the Trinamool Congress lobby at Kalighat said roop’s recent move to write a letter to the bank might be at the behest of the dissident camp.
Sources also felt that it was game plan of the rebels and BJP managers to make Mamata financially paralysed.
Trinamool Congress leadership while overhauling of the party organisation after its defeat in the elections made Subhashis Chakraborty, former Rajya Sabha MP of the party, the Treasurer removing Biswas from the post. Biswas lost election from the Tollygunj assembly seat this time against the BJP candidate Papiya Adhikari.
According to Biswas’s letter, “At present, rival groups are claiming to be the legitimate representatives and office bearers of AITC, resulting in uncertainty regarding the authority of persons who may seek to operate the bank accounts maintained in the name of AITC.”
"In order to safeguard the funds of the organisation... I request your good office to maintain status quo and refrain from permitting any debit transactions or changes in operational mandates in respect of the following account... until the dispute is duly resolved," Biswas stated in the letter.
"It is further matter of public knowledge that a substantial number of elected representatives of the party, including 20 out of 28 Members of Parliament and 58 out of 90 Members of the Legislative Assembly, have either left the Party or have openly revolted against the existing leadership. In these circumstances, a serious dispute has arisen regarding the authority, control and management of the party,” he added.
"At present, rival groups are claiming to be the legitimate representatives and office bearers of AITC, resulting in uncertainty regarding the authority of persons who may seek to operate the bank accounts maintained in the name of AITC," Biswas said fearing that some signed cheques, including those currently in the custody of the rebel leaders, whose authority is under dispute, may be misused.
The Trinamool Congress has been rocked by rebellion led by Ritabrata with support of around 65 dissident legislators of the party after it lost the crucial 2026 Assembly polls, where it has bagged only 80 out 294 assembly seats across the state.