The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has sprung a surprise by inducting former MP and Saradha scam accused Kunal Ghosh in its official list of spokespersons.
A well-known journalist, Mr. Ghosh was nominated by the TMC to the Rajya Sabha, but he was suspended from the party after a bitter fallout in 2013.
The same year, the West Bengal Police’s special investigation team arrested him in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam. Mr. Ghosh was the editor-in-chief of the publications run by Saradha group managing director Sudipta Sen. Following his arrest, Mr. Ghosh was unsparing in his criticism of the party and its president — Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
However, after his release from prison in 2016, the TMC leadership started reaching out to him. Mr. Ghosh, whose name figured in the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the multi-crore Saradha scam, is currently out on bail. There are reports that he met Ms. Banerjee before he was formally included in the list of spokespersons.
The Opposition parties did not hesitate in taking a dig at the TMC over the issue. Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra tweeted a photograph of the police denying Mr. Ghosh journalists’ access while being produced before a city court. “A flashback only and nothing more... Cops attack media persons, block access to Kunal Ghosh,” Dr. Mishra tweeted.
The development comes just days after the party inducted Chhatradhar Mahato, a former leader of a Maoist outfit, into its State Committee.
