Kolkata: Dubbing the allegations of a steady increase in the assets of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and ministers as "misleading", the party on Wednesday accused the BJP, Left and Congress of running "half-truth" campaigns on the issue.
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to be a party in a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) regarding the assets and property details of 19 heavyweight leaders, including seven current ministers of Bengal. The PIL was filed in February 2017, seeking an investigation into the increase in assets of ministers and leaders between 2011 and 2016, disproportionate to the known sources of income.
"We have given a full declaration of our source of income while filing our income tax returns. There is nothing wrong if there is an increase in income. I have a business of my own, plus salary and perks as a minister. A misleading campaign has been deliberately organised to malign us. They are spreading half-truths," senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said.
Hakim, who is also the Kolkata Mayor and the Urban Development minister, said that they have nothing to say about the court order and have full faith in the judiciary. "We just wanted to point at the political tricks the opposition parties are playing. It is not a public interest case. The case has been made out of political interest,'' he added.
Taking a cue from Hakim, TMC leader Bratya Basu said that the court order has a mention of Congress and CPI(M) leaders, too, but the names of TMC leaders and ministers are being selectively raised to malign the image of the ruling party of Bengal.
Holding up the copy of the verdict, Basu said: "It is correct. There are names of 19 Trinamool leaders, ministers and MLAs. It's true. But the name of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (state Congress president) is in that same judgment. His property has increased. Similar is the case with Surjya Kanta Mishra (former CPM state secretary and former minister), Ashok Bhattacharya (former minister during erstwhile Left Front government), Kanti Ganguly (former minister during Left regime), Abu Hena (former state minister and Congress leader) and others."
TMC leader Moloy Ghatak, who is also the state Law minister, claimed that there was nothing unnatural about the increase in assets. The price of assets will go up naturally after five years. If you have a fixed deposit, obviously, in five years, its valuation will increase due to the accumulation of interest. We have declared everything to the income tax department. If there is something illegal, let the income tax department point it out," Ghatak added.
Referring to the recent arrest of senior party leader Partha Chatterjee by the ED in connection with recruitment of teachers, Hakim said: "I am ashamed of what Partha Chatterjee has done. This is not the same person we had known for years. But that does not mean that everyone in TMC is a thief. We have dedicated ourselves to serving the people of this state and have gone through a lot of struggle under the leadership of our leader Mamata Banerjee."
Apart from Hakim, Basu and Ghatak, the other three TMC leaders who were present during the press conference at the state Legislative Assembly on Wednesday were Jyotipriya Mallick, Arup Roy and Seuli Saha.