Partha Chatterjee (born 6 October 1952) is an Indian politician. He earlier served as the Minister of Commerce and Industries and formerly served as the Education Minister of

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Administrative division, principal administrative authority of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal, created by the Constitution ...

. He represented the

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

. He also held the political office of

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the TMC. In 2022, he was suspended indefinitely from the party following his arrest by the

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

Early life

Chatterjee was born in Calcutta. He attended

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur is a unit of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, which is a branch of Ramakrishna Mission with headquarters at Belur. It is affiliated to the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education ...

though some former students of the Mission claimed that he was only there for a year, after which he was given a transfer certificate. He studied economics from Asutosh College and completed his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from IISWBM.

Political career

Chatterjee worked as an HR professional with

Andrew Yule Andrew Yule (2 November 1834 – 18 July 1902) was a businessman who founded Andrew Yule and Company Ltd., Andrew Yule and Co. Early life Andrew was born in Stonehaven-Fetteresso Castle, Fetteresso, Scotland, the third and youngest son of Robert ...

. He was elected as an MLA from Behala Paschim in 2001, and subsequently re-elected from the same constituency in 2006. In 2011 he won by a margin of 59,021 votes. He was Leader of the Opposition in the

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paścimabaṅga Vidhānasabhā'') is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal, located in eastern India. It consists of 294 members directly elected from single-seat ...

from 2006 to 2011. In the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

West Bengal assembly elections he was re-elected from the same constituency. He was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister under Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

on 20 May 2011 and allotted the portfolios of Commerce and Industry, Public Enterprises, Information Technology and Electronics and

Parliamentary affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Ox ...

. He was nominated as deputy leader of the house in 2011. After the

Assembly election 2016 Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

, he became the Minister-in-Charge of Higher Education and School Education Department,

West Bengal Government The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the principal administrative authority of the Indian state of West Bengal, created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial a ...

and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Public Enterprises, Information Technology and Electronics replaced by Amit Mitra.

Controversy

On 23 July 2022, Chatterjee was arrested from his residence by the

in connection with the alleged State School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam cases along with his aide actress Arpita Mukherjee. He was admitted to SSKM Hospital after complaining of chest pains. Later, he was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar where doctors said that he suffers from chronic diseases but does not need immediate hospitalization. He is currently in the custody of the

. As of 28 July 2022, the

has recovered ₹498 million(US$5.96 million) cash, gold worth ₹70 crore(US$8.3 million), ₹5.6 crore(US$ 670K) worth

foreign currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific environm ...

and coded diaries from properties related to him and Arpita Mukherjee. On 28 July 2022, he was removed as the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Information Technology and Electronics and

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Ox ...

and suspended from the

. On 5 August 2022, he and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to jail custody. He is still under trial, but the people of his state proclaim him as a thief as they use the slogans "পার্থ চোর " ''(Partha is a thief)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterjee, Partha 1956 births Living people Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Ramakrishna Mission schools alumni Asutosh College alumni Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management alumni University of Calcutta alumni State cabinet ministers of West Bengal Leaders of the opposition in West Bengal West Bengal MLAs 2001–2006 West Bengal MLAs 2006–2011 West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 West Bengal MLAs 2016–2021 West Bengal MLAs 2021–2026 Politicians from Kolkata Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal 20th-century Indian politicians