Municipality Chairman in West Bengal removed for indulging in corruption amounting to Rs 120 crore

Kolkata: West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday removed Swapan Saha as the Chairman of Mal Municipality in Jalpaiguri district and also expelled him from the party on charges of being involved in corruption in the civic body to the tune of Rs 120 crore.

Announcing the decision to expel him from the party, Trinamool's Jalpaiguri President Mahua Gop told media persons that complaints about Saha’s involvement in corruption had been surfacing for quite some time.

"Finally, the party leadership has decided to remove him from the post and also expel him from the party," she said. She also confirmed that the charges of corruption slapped against Saha amount to around Rs 120 crore.

"The charges include getting ineligible candidates jobs in the municipality against money, fund defalcation in housing schemes, permission for illegal constructions, and giving shop licences against money," Gop said.

She said that Saha’s involvement in corruption had negatively impacted Trinamool's electoral results in subsequent elections.

"The party leadership has taken the decision to expel him after they found the complaints of corruption against him to be quite valid. The decision has been taken to keep the image of the party clean among the public and also to send a signal that the party leadership will not spare anyone who is involved in corruption," Gop said.

Saha could not be reached out for his reaction to the matter as he kept his mobile phone switched off.

However, BJP’s state President Sukanta Majumdar claimed that Saha was not punished for his involvement in corruption but for not sharing the percentage of ill-gotten proceeds with the top leadership.