TMC leader defends party

The Trinamool Congress, in a bid to deflect the attack on its partymen being associated with the Saradha group chit fund scam, are blaming regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for inaction.

Former Union minister and senior TMC leader Saugata Roy told Business Standard, “Sebi, in any case, did not act on its own initiative. Like in the Sahara case, it they could have gone to Supreme Court and asked for money to be deposited. They did not do so.”

Incidentally, Sebi in its order on Tuesday admitted it had received a letter “221/D/EOI dated 23.04.2010 from Director, Economic Offences Investigation Cell (EOIC), Government of West Bengal, informing that Saradha Realty India Limited (hereinafter referred to as "noticee") is collecting contributions of monies from the public, particularly in rural areas of the state of West Bengal. The letter was accompanied by a brochure purportedly circulated by the noticee to the public, containing the details of mode of mobilisation of monies from public in contravention of the Sebi Act and regulations made thereunder.”

While sections within the TMC are demanding the resignation of Kunal Ghosh as TMC member of Parliament, Roy was tightlipped on the matter and only said, “Mamata Banerjee (party hed and state chief minister) has already stated that anybody connected with the financial transactions of Saradha would not be spared.”

Ghosh headed the Saradha group's media interests.

Roy’s comments come on a day when it was revealed that kingpin Sudipta Sen had written a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation, alleging he was being blackmailed by TMC party members.

Said Roy: “TMC members may have been associated with it but were not connected with the financial business of the Saradha group.” Attacking the opposition CPI(M) which has been lashing at the TMC on thew issue, Roy said, “It all started during the Left regime.”

With state panchayat elections in the offing, the chit fund fraud which had affected thousands of defrauded depositors could adversely impact the TMC, say analysts. The TMC denies this, though it is facing heat from all quarters, with one victim having committed suicide and reports coming of others attempting to take their lives.