Madan Mitra welcomes Mukul Roy's 'return' to Trinamool mainstream

Former West Bengal minister and Saradha chit fund scam accused Madan Mitra on Thursday hailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for bringing shunted Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Mukul Roy back to the party mainstream.

Signalling his return to the party fold after nearly 10 months, Roy joined party colleagues in a delegation to present a memorandum to union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah on Wednesday.

Credited as the architect of Trinamool's electoral successes, Roy's relation with the party nosedived following his January 30 interrogation by the CBI in connection with the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam.

Going against the party stand that the CBI was targeting Trinamool leaders, Roy insisted that he would cooperate with the probe agency. Soon after, he was sidelined within his own party.

The Rajya Sabha member was removed from all party posts including that of Trinamool national general secretary, and he was alloted a seat among the back-benchers.

Asked by the media to comment on Roy's return, Mitra said: "Whatever Mamata Banerjee does is for good. Her decision regarding Mukul is for the benefit of the people and Bengal. It's a good decision."

Behind bars for his alleged complicity in the multi-crore rupee scam, the former transport and sports minister's judicial custody was on Thursday extended till December 31 by a court here.

While murmurs have been growing about Mitra being rendered a scapegoat by his own party, the Trinamool lawmaker insisted otherwise.

"Do I seem like a goat?" Mitra asked with a smile.

Arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the scam on December 12, 2014, Mitra was granted bail by a lower court on October 31.

However, the relief was subsequently cancelled by the Calcutta High Court on November 19 and he has been in judicial custody since then.