In an incident that can put arrested-and-then-deposed Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee in the same league with some other top politicians both in India and the US, an angry woman on Tuesday morning hurled her sandal at the former general secretary of the ruling Trinamool Congress for “looting and depriving the poor people and making merry at the cost of public money.”
The incident took place at Joka ESI Hospital in southern Kolkata where Chatterjee was brought by the Enforcement Directorate officers for a mandatory medical check-up. Subhra Ghorui a housewife who had come to the hospital for treatment suddenly hurled her sandal at the former minister before going back home barefoot shedding the other sleeper too by the road.
Luckily the footwear did not hit the senior politician, who along with his close aide Arpita Mukherjee were now being probed in the school level recruitment scam. More than Rs 50 crore in cash, jewellery and foreign currency apart from deeds of prime properties were recovered by the ED officials from the residence of Mukherjee.
“I don’t understand why this man who has devoured crores of the common man, depriving them of their jobs is being brought in an air-conditioned car ... he should be brought here in ropes … I was angry … the anger suddenly soared when I saw him … instantly I threw the sandal … Unluckily it missed the target … It would have been better had it landed on his bald head,” woman said, adding she would have been more pleased to greet the leader with a garland of shoes.
Reacting to the incident the Trinamool Congress leadership said the “incident was unfortunate as he is still not been proven guilty.” Party general secretary Kunal Ghosh said “He is in ED custody and the agency is responsible for his security ... tomorrow if he is proven innocent then things will again flow in different directions.”
BJP State president Sukanta Majumdar said “though I do not support this incident the TMC leaders should be cautious now … they must stop syndicate and cut money politics or more such incidents would follow.”
CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabatry said “the shoe was in fact hurled at Nabanna (state secretariat and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s office) … more such incidents would follow … more TMC leaders will face similar incidents if they do not mend their corrupt habits.”
Meanwhile, in related development Arpita on Tuesday followed her mentor’s route disowning the crores recovered from her two apartments. However in doing so she tended to pass the ball in Chatterjee’s court even as she said: “The money does not belong to me … I am in no way connected to the money thus recovered … I did not know how it came … it came during my absence … people used to come to my flat and deposit the cash and go without informing me.”
Earlier Chatterjee too had said that the money did not belong to him apparently suggesting that the wads of notes recovered from Arpita’s flat belonged to other persons --- in this case the party itself. Bengal opposition leaders like Adhir Chowdhury, Suvendu Adhikari and Md Salim have repeatedly said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had made Chatterjee a scapegoat and that the money belonged to the party and had come via syndicate and cut-money route to be used during the elections.