Kolkata: Breaking silence after resigning as minister of two crucial departments, Sovan Chatterjee said he is facing a tough time answering questions of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with his wife's acts.
This comes at a time when he has claimed that the investigating agency has nothing against him in connection with the Narada case.
In connection with his resignation from the post of Kolkata Municipal Corporation's Mayor, he said that he has always followed the instructions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and will send the resignation at the suitable time.
During an interview to vernacular channel ABP Ananda on Wednesday, Chatterjee said: "If Baishakhi Banerjee had not come forward to organise and prepare legal documents for the CBI and ED cases, then the person who would have been in trouble is none other than Sovan Chatterjee." In the same breath, he said: "There is nothing against me with connection to the Narada case. But I am facing challenges in answering questions related to my wife."
In reply to another question, he said: "It had not always become possible for me to focus on household developments, due to me remaining busy with my work. But I later realised that there were developments in my house beyond my knowledge…My wife (Ratna) had formed a company called GCR, that stands for 'Gopal Chiku Ratna'. I later came to know that Chiku is one Avijit Ganguly and got to know from family members that he often used to visit my house. Later, I enquired about it from Ratna after going through telephone call books and records and tourism-related documents and she said that I can go for divorce if I didn't like it. This is the reason behind putting forward the name of Baishakhi Banerjee into the mix."
Chatterjee further said: "There was a female security guard in my house. I removed her after the controversy. I had received a phone call after a few days and came to know that a supari killer had been engaged to 'hurt' Baishakhi and her daughter. This would sound like a story, but it's true." He further alleged that attempts were made to take security guards under confidence to send him poisoned cake on his birthday. Kolkata Police has recorded statements in both the connections.
Meanwhile, his wife Ratna Chatterjee said in this connection: "Avijit Ganguly is known to all my family members and he is 15 years younger to me."
The former minister said it is not the right time to answer irrelevant questions on whether he would quit politics. He also ruled out the possibility of him joining BJP. When asked whether he is tensed, Chatterjee said: "I am very much relaxed. But I condemn the way Baishakhi has been dragged into a controversy for no reason at all."