Who is Partha Chatterjee, West Bengal minister accused in teacher job scam?

Partha Chatterjee,
69, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment scheme after
Rs 20 crore was seized from his close aide Arpita Mukherjee. The current
industries minister of West Bengal was the state education minister when the alleged scam took
place.

Chatterjee, the general
secretary of All India Trinamool Congress, is believed to be close to West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 

Born in West Bengal capital Kolkata, Partha Chatterjee studied at the Ramkrishna Mission Vidyalaya in Narendrapur. Subsequently, he studied economics from Asutosh College. He went on to do his MBA from ISWBM. 

Partha Chatterjee was working as a human resource professional when he was elected as a MLA from Behala Paschim in 2001. He was subsequently re-elected in 2006. He was the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly from 2006 to 2011. 

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In 2011, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress wrested West Bengal from the Communists who had ruled the state for 34 years. That year, Partha Chatterjee won his Behala Paschim seat by a staggering 59,021 votes. 

Chatterjee was elected to the West Bengal legislative assembly in 2016 and 2021 from the same constituency. 

In the first Trinamool Congress government, Partha Chatterjee served the portfolios of commerce and industry, public enterprises, information technology and electronics. 

Following the 2016 Assembly elections, Chatterjee became the Minister-in-Charge of Higher Education and School Education Department. 

On Saturday morning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Chatterjee in connection with its investigation into the teacher recruitment scam, an agency official told media outlets. 

The arrest came of after Chatterjee was grilled by the investigating agency for around 26 hours. The ED official told PTI: “He was not cooperating with our officers who were questioning him since Friday morning. He will be produced before court on Saturday.