Kunal Ghosh's explosive claim: 'TMC was aware of school recruitment scam before 2021 assembly polls'

Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) West Bengal general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Thursday said that the party was aware of the school recruitment scam even before the 2021 assembly polls in the state. He said the party, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was well aware of the large-scale corruption and extortion in exchange of jobs taking place in the school education department.

"The party was well aware of the fact that large-scale corruption and extortion in lieu of jobs was taking place in the school education department. The party was aware of it even before the 2021 assembly polls," the former TMC leader, considered close to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said in an interview with Bengali news channel ABP Ananda.

He also claimed that it was due to the information about this corruption and extortion that former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was shifted from the education ministry to the industry department after the party won the 2021 assembly elections. 

West Bengal school recruitment scam case

Ghosh's statement comes a week after the Calcutta High Court ordered the cancellation of all appointments made through the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) conducted across West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, declaring the recruitment process "null and void."

The TMC, however, has maintained the party was not aware of the scam until Chatterjee was arrested in 2022. After the Calcutta High Court's verdict, approximately 26,000 people lost their jobs. In July 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Partha Chatterjee for his alleged involvement in the SSC scam. 

Chhatterjee was removed from the state cabinet after his arrest. Many TMC leaders including MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha were arrested by the CBI for their alleged involvement in the scam.

Kunal Ghosh shared stage with BJP LS candidate, removed from TMC

The statement came a day after Ghosh was removed from the post of TMC West Bengal general secretary after he shared a stage with a BJP Lok Sabha candidate. Ghosh has been seeking more role and prominence for next-generation leaders and has been in crosshairs with the old guard of the TMC.