NEW DELHI: After 13-day customary mourning following his wife Babli’s death in July 2017, the then industry minister of West Bengal and Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee threw a lavish lunch on the occasion of shraddh or ceremonial offering to a departed soul. It was anything but ceremonial as hundreds of guests partook of the sumptuous lunch. The raw vegetables came from the plentiful fields of Nadia and the many varieties of fish came from Midnapore.
“Some TMC workers bore the expenses. But Partha never reimbursed the party. His stinginess was staggering,” a TMC leader said on the condition of anonymity. That Chatterjee is said to be a miser is legion in the TMC, which also explains why he allegedly hoarded Rs 52 crore in cash, thousands of dollars worth lakhs, and jewellery valued at Rs 4 crore.
And then there are the apartments, some known while others still untraced. Not just Kolkata but all of Bengal is agog with raunchy and anything-goes stories of 69-year-old Chatterjee and his 36-year-old belle Arpita Mukherjee.
There is talk of another woman a teacher said to be close to Chatterjee. The Chatterjee-Arpita relationship blossomed some 10 years ago when a South Kolkata councillor introduced the two at a cultural show. As their chemistry among other things deepened, Arpita would often visit Chatterjee’s Naktala residence in South Kolkata. There were occasions when she would visit his office. On most occasions, however, they met at some of the well-appointed flats in Belghoria where Arpita is originally from. One flat was exclusively for eight pet dogs.
A bungalow built over 10-cottah land, and named ‘Apa’ — short for Arpita and Partha — in Shantiniketan, was the couple’s hinterland getaway. Arpita, however, never influenced Chatterjee’s politics. He first contested the 2001 Assembly elections, winning the Behala West seat. This was followed by a string of victories — in 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021. While Chatterjee’s penny-pinching is the stuff of jokes — ribald and otherwise – his party colleagues frown upon his near total lack of attention to ministerial responsibilities of which he had many.