West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee calls for probe into money taken by media houses

KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the media of running a negative campaign against the government, a state minister said that money allegedly taken by media companies to advertise chit fund companies should also be looked into.

"Every day in a particular news channel discussions are being held and negative campaigns are being run against Mamata Banerjee and the TMC government. This is a shame when Mamata Banerjee coming from a humble background is trying to develop the state from the ruins left by the CPI(M) regime," Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told a press conference.

The minister said the media houses who were campaigning against Banerjee and the TMC were doing it out of a grudge as their own vested interests were not being served.

"Those who are raising so many questions should answer what about the money that was taken by those media companies in exchange for advertisements taken from the chit fund companies," Chatterjee said.

He alleged that these advertisements had helped the chit fund companies gain the trust of the masses and therefore these media houses were also 'guilty'.