Kolkata: Following his removal as the TMC's West Bengal general secretary, Kunal Ghosh claimed that the party was already aware of the school recruitment scam prior to the 2021 assembly elections. Ghosh was removed from the post hours after he shared a stage with a BJP Lok Sabha candidate and praised him on Wednesday.
The damning statement from Ghosh, who is considered close to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, has emerged during the Lok Sabha elections, intensifying concerns over the SSC scam, which has become a focal point in the polls.
'Party was well aware'
"The party was well aware of the fact that large-scale corruption and extortion in lieu of jobs was taking place in the school education department. The party was aware of it even before the 2021 assembly polls," he said.
Ghosh, who has been seeking more prominence for next-generation leaders and has been at loggerheads with the old guards in the TMC, said it was due to this "information about large-scale corruption that Partha Chatterjee was shifted to the industry department from the education ministry after the party returned to power for the third consecutive term in 2021."
Calcutta HC declares 'null and void' 2016 teacher recruitment test
Earlier on April 22, the Calcutta High Court declared the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in government-sponsored and aided schools in West Bengal, declaring it as “null and void”. The court also ordered the cancellation of all appointments made through it.
The bench also mandated the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) to commence a new recruitment process. The SLST-2016 saw participation from over 23 lakh candidates vying for 24,640 available positions.
Approximately 26,000 individuals have been rendered unemployed as a result of the court ruling. The TMC leadership had consistently asserted that the party had no prior knowledge of the scam until Chatterjee's arrest unfolded in 2022.
Partha Chatterjee was arrested in July 2022
TMC leader Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in July 2022 for his alleged involvement in the SSC scam. Chatterjee was shown the door by the party following his arrest. He was also removed from the state cabinet.
Several TMC leaders and TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha were arrested by the CBI for their alleged involvement in the scam.
Chatterjee was the state education minister when the scam took place. The CBI and ED are probing allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of Group-D staff in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
The ED's money-laundering case stems from an FIR by the CBI, which was first directed by the Calcutta High Court to investigate the alleged scam in the recruitment of Group 'C' and 'D' staff, assistant teachers of classes 11 and 12 and primary teachers.
(With PTI inputs)
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