Arrested WB minister Partha Chatterjee's official car surrendered in Assembly

Amid the growing opposition demands for the removal of arrested West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee from the cabinet, his official car, used by him for over 15 years, was on Tuesday surrendered in the state Assembly, officials said.Chatterjee, also secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress, was allotted the car and a driver by the Assembly as the Leader of the Opposition in 2006.

Amid the growing opposition demands for the removal of arrested West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee from the cabinet, his official car, used by him for over 15 years, was on Tuesday surrendered in the state Assembly, officials said.

Chatterjee, also secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress, was allotted the car and a driver by the Assembly as the Leader of the Opposition in 2006. “After the TMC came to power in 2011 and he became a minister, he continued to use the car and the driver until the other day. His driver was verbally asked to surrender the car to the Assembly,'' a senior assembly official told PTI.

Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee also confirmed the development but asserted that it does not “imply anything''.

''The car was taken from the pool of cars owned by the Assembly. The driver is also an employee of the Assembly. As Partha Chatterjee is in custody and is not using it, his driver has surrendered it to the Assembly. I think the driver did it on his own, but still, I will check tomorrow,'' he said.

Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 in connection with its investigation into the alleged teacher recruitment irregularities at government-sponsored and -aided schools.

He was the education minister when the alleged school jobs scam took place.

A woman, claimed to be Chatterjee's close aide, was also arrested by the central agency after crores of rupees in cash were allegedly recovered from her residence.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury has urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ''to sack'' Chatterjee from the cabinet immediately.

On Monday, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, demanded that Chatterjee be immediately removed as the state minister.

On Monday, Mamata Banerjee said that if anyone is found guilty of wrongdoing, he must be punished and asserted that she does not support corruption. The TMC earlier said that the party and the government will take action against Chatterjee if he is proven guilty of the school jobs scam.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh has also made it clear that the party would not remove him as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the TMC.