Kunal Ghosh writes to Trinamool leadership to revoke suspension

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabhe member Kunal Ghosh Sunday wrote to the party leadership for withdrawal of the suspension slapped on him, stressing he stood by the issues he has raised, but was "sorry" if he has hurt anybody.

The journalist-turned MP, who has been grilled by police multiple times in connection with Saradha chit fund scam, maintained that he was yet to receive any show cause letter from the party.

Ghosh said he has also sent a "personal letter" to party chief Mamata Banerjee, but refused to disclose its contents.

"I have written to disciplinary committee convenor Partha Chatterjee and party general secretary Mukul Roy. I have requested them to revoke my suspension," said Ghosh.

"I have written to them that I could not reply to the show-cause (notice) as I never received it. I have not indulged in any anti-party activity.

"I had to interact with the media, as it has regularly caught hold of me when I came out after my interrogation sessions at the Bidhan Nagar commissionerate," he said. The commissionerate is probing the multi-crore Saradha scam.

"I have asked for a chance to explain my stand. I want to say whatever I have to say in a party forum. That is the reason I demanded the constitution of an intra-party probe commission," said Ghosh.

"I have made it clear that I stand by the issues I have raised. But I have also written that I am sorry if my comments has hurt any Trinamool worker," he added.

Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said his counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Mukul Roy will write to the deputy chairman of the house seeking separate sitting arrangement for Ghosh.

On Saturday, Chatterjee announced that Ghosh has been suspended from the party with immediate effect on disciplinary grounds.

"Despite being show caused, Ghosh has continued to speak against the party, tarnishing its image. The disciplinary committee met Sep 27 and unanimously decided to suspend him," said Chatterjee.

Ghosh 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.

Ghosh, who earlier headed Saradha's media arm, has made a series of allegations against the party over the past 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 alleged that a Trinamool leader demanding his resignation for the scam had in the past asked for Rs.4 crore from Saradha boss Sudipta Sen.

The scandal came to light in April when the Saradha Group closed shop across West Bengal, unable to pay back the depositors, mainly poor people in small towns and villages who had parked their life's savings with the group, lured by the promise of huge returns.

Sen, along with several of his key aides, is now behind bars.

As the company went bust, there was a spate of suicides by agents and investors and protests across the state.