Sacked Mukul Roy unfazed, draws fire from Trinamool leaders

IANS
Kolkata, March 1

A day after being sacked as the general secretary of the West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, Mukul Roy Sunday said he was “enjoying everything” while noting it was the party’s prerogative to decide about his expulsion.
Once the right hand man of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Roy was Saturday replaced by Subrata Bakshi, as the national general secretary.
“I am enjoying it. I am enjoying everything. Every man has a different style of taking things…I am enjoying,” said Roy here to media queries about his reaction to his sacking.“They should decide, the party should decide whether my requirement is there or not, they can expel me,” he said.
Refusing to comment about speculation that he was eyeing an entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Roy said: “I will not say anything on that. But I was there and I will be there for the party”.
Roy, a Rajya Sabha member fell out with the Trinamool following his interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam.
While the Trinamool has been going hammer and tongs against the CBI which has arrested and interrogated several of its parliamentarians and ministers, Roy took a divergent stand, professing he was ready to be grilled by the agency as many times as it wanted.
Roy was also removed as the leader of Trinamool in Rajya Sabha with Derek O’Brien having been appointed in his place.
The former railway minister came under sharp attack from his own party as Trinamool leaders accused him of working at the behest of the BJP.
Senior Trinamool leader and state Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pande said Roy was being used by union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
“Mukul Roy has been entrapped by the BJP and done several unjust things. It’s all being planned by Jaitley, he has said that BJP cannot induct him (Roy) at the moment, so for the time being, you try to harm the Trinamool,” said Pande.
Taking a jibe at Roy’s comments that party supremo Mamata Banerjee was not even a member when he had he initiated the process for the Trinamool’s formation, Trinamool legislator Atin Ghosh called Roy a “clerk”.
“It was Mamata Banerjee who formed the Trinamool. Roy worked as a mere clerk, what he did was a clerical job,” said Ghosh.
Taking a dig at Banerjee, Roy had Saturday said: “On Dec 17, 1997, when I had made the application for the formation of the party under the Representation of the People Act, then the current chairperson (Banerjee) was not even a member of the party.”
Meanwhile, the state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party was ideal for all those who are disenchanted with the Trinamool and want to quit it.
“Those who are in Trinamool, all are byproducts of the Congress. As ideologically, culturally and politically they are Congress’ byproducts, so, those who are disenchanted by the Trinamool and want to quit, for them, Congress is the ideal place,” he said.
Chowdhury, however, refused to specify if his comments were directed towards Roy.