A Trinamool Congress spokesman claimed the senior politician has brought “shame and dishonor to all of us” as the cash pile discovered at the apartments of a close aide of Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee rises.

Against the background of significant seizures made by the Enforcement Directorate at the houses in Kolkata of Arpita Mukherjee, a close assistant of Mr. Chatterjee, party spokesman Kunal Ghosh made his statements. The minister, the Trinamool’s national general secretary, was detained for allegedly engaging in irregularities during the School Service Commission’s teacher recruitment process.

With around 5 kilograms of gold and a sizable foreign currency, Ms. Mukherjee’s two apartments had 50 crores in cash.

“This trend is really concerning. Such events have made the party seem bad and have made us all feel ashamed. Partha Chatterjee is explaining his decision to resign as a minister. Why does he not declare his innocence in the open? What prevents him from taking such action?” Kunal Ghosh, a party spokeswoman, said.

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“He (Chatterjee) is a cabinet minister with a number of positions. He must respond to the question of how he will overcome his reputation as an important person “said Mr. Ghosh.

The Trinamool spokesperson tweeted that Mr. Chatterjee should be removed as a minister and expelled from the party. “If this statement (is) considered wrong, the party has every right to remove me from all posts. I shall continue as a soldier of @AITCofficial,” he said.

Minister Chatterjee is in charge of public enterprises, industrial rehabilitation, information technology and electronics, legislative affairs, and business and industry. The ED called him an “influential figure in the Calcutta High Court.”

Recent comments by Mr. Ghosh suggest that Trinamool’s position on its minister may have changed.

Mr. Ghosh informed the media shortly after Mr. Chatterjee’s detention on Saturday that the party would not remove him from his position as secretary general of the Trinamool or as a cabinet member until he was found guilty.

Jago Bangla, the Trinamool party mouthpiece, has now ceased referring to Mr. Chatterjee as a minister or the organization’s general secretary. He is still listed as the mouthpiece’s editor but in the printer’s line.

The CBI is investigating the alleged anomalies in hiring teachers at Bengal’s government-sponsored and aided schools on the orders of the Calcutta High Court. The Enforcement Directorate is following the money trail in the fraud.

At the time of the alleged irregularities, Mr. Chatterjee served as the education minister.