Saradha scam: Srinjoy Bose quits TMC

Was given bail on Wednesday in connection with Saradha scam

A day after getting bail in the Saradha case, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Srinjoy Bose quit the party on Thursday. He has also given up his Rajya Sabha membership.

On Wednesday, a city court had granted conditional bail to Bose. He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on November 20, 2014 for his alleged involvement in the case relating to Saradha Realty India on allegations of criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and deriving undue financial benefits.

“During my days in custody, I realised that politics was not my cup of tea. There was also a lot of pressure from my family, especially my mother and wife, which finally made me take this decision,” Bose said in a statement.

Besides being a TMC Rajya Sabha MP, Bose also owns the Bengali daily, Pratidin, which had a tie-up with the Sudipta Sen-promoted Saradha’s media house. Bose was also the editor of TMC mouthpiece, Jago Bangla. Suspended TMC MP Kunal Ghosh also used to work for Bose’s newspaper, besides being the head of Saradha’s media wing.

Before he was arrested by the West Bengal police past year, Ghosh had named Bose along with several other TMC leaders for their alleged complicity in the Saradha scam. He had made the revelations through a 36-minute video broadcast on a local Bengali channel.

Responding to Bose’s resignation, the TMC alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had pressured Bose to quit. “Srinjoy has been under tremendous pressure from the party in power at the Centre,” said TMC spokesperson Derek O’Brien.