As A Recruitment Scam Tarnishes Brand TMC, Mamata Regrets Not Dropping Old Guard

When West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee declared she does not support corruption or any wrongdoings on the back of the arrest of her Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee by the ED following orders of Calcutta High Court, she knew she had no choice but to distance herself from him. Partha, who is also TMC general secretary, had made three calls to her at the time of his arrest. Mamata did not take his calls. Didi had no choice but to distance herself from Partha as unseemly visuals of the cash haul of Rs 21 crore recovered from Partha’s aide Arpita Mukherjee’s flat had exposed the underbelly of TMC style governance. It also exposed threadbare West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment irregularities that occurred when Partha was the state Education Minister. Mamata had moved him out of the ministry. However, now the scam has tarnished Brand TMC. “I don’t support corruption or any wrongdoing. If anyone is found guilty, he or she must be punished,” said Mamata.  Are her words enough to breathe credibility into TMC? Meanwhile, amidst push by nephew Abhishek Banerjee to rid the party of old guards, it is being said Mamata already regrets not having  dropped old guard like Partha and Firhad Hakim (Kolkata Mayor) from her team when she returned to power third time in 2021.