Punished without trial, will talk to leadership: Kunal Ghosh

Accusing the Trinamool Congress leadership of punishing him "without a trial", Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh Saturday said he will talk to the party regarding his suspension.

"I have been punished without a trial. I think some leaders have taken this action against me in haste to keep me away from the Trinamool workers," the Rajya Sabha member said, immediately after party secretary general Partha Chatterjee announced his suspension with immediate effect on disciplinary grounds.

At a media conference later, Ghosh denied Chatterjee's charge that he has continued to"malign the party", despite being served a show cause notice for the same.

"I am not trying to malign my party. I am trying to say things within the party and I don't want to make any comment against the party publicly. I am party member, a worker, and a soldier. I will talk to the party leadership about my suspension," Ghosh told media persons here.

Ghosh claimed he was yet to receive the show cause letter.

"I have not received any latter. I will meet Chatterjee and other leaders and ask for the letter and not only give my replies but also cooperate in the party probe," he said, adding he came to know about his suspension through the media and was yet to get a formal intimation from the party.

A beleaguered Ghosh though asserted he was not upset at the move and hoped for support from within the party as he has "enough friends" in the Trinamool "and the leaders still love me".

Ghosh, who has been grilled by police multiple times in connection with Saradha chit fund scam - the biggest financial scandal to rock West Bengal - lashed out against the party leadership at an event Sep 20, alleging he was being made a scapegoat by those involved in the scam and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

Two other Lok Sabha members Tapas Pal and Satabdi Roy, who had accompanied Ghosh at the event, too aired their grievances at the forum.

However, they were spared following a written apology to party chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Ghosh, who earlier headed Saradha's media arm, has made several allegations against his party leaders over the last few days. He even claimed that "three Trinamool Lok Sabha members secretly met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's political adviser Ahmed Patel at a tea party in Delhi".

He had also alleged that a Trinamool leader demanding his resignation on the scam had in the past asked for Rs.4 crore from Saradha boss Sudipta Sen.