Return poll funds first: Kunal Ghosh challenges Trinamool dissident MLAs

Kolkata: A major political slugfest has broken out over the alleged use of Trinamool Congress funds by dissident MLAs during the assembly election campaign.

Trinamool spokesperson and MLA Kunal Ghosh questioned why Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee and other dissident MLAs had accepted and utilised funds, around ₹26 lakh each, that were disbursed to Trinamool candidates (now MLAs) from the party's bank account ahead of the elections. "Ritabrata Banerjee and the other MLAs must first return the money and then question the source of the funds. If, according to Ritabrata, black money was used in the elections, then he should first return the money, resign, and then fight against it," Ghosh said.

Ghosh's remarks came in response to a police complaint filed on Friday by dissident MLAs led by Ritabrata regarding the sources of funds in Trinamool's bank account.


Ritabrata has claimed that the source of funds deposited in the Trinamool Congress bank account cannot be ascertained and claimed that the money may have originated from cut-money collections and extortion. "Our MLAs have sent a letter to the police," he said. The Opposition bloc led by him currently comprises 64 dissident MLAs.

A complaint letter has been submitted by the dissident Trinamool Congress MLAs to the Bidhannagar Police Station, seeking an investigation into the funds deposited in the Trinamool bank account and urged an enquiry into the issue. The account holds deposits worth around ₹675 crore, sources said. Earlier, former party treasurer Aroop Biswas had written a letter seeking the freezing of Trinamool Congress' bank account in Kolkata.