Rebel Trinamool MP says three party members, Ahmed Patel had secret meet

Kolkata: Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh Thursday alleged that three Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha members, including two former union ministers, secretly met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political adviser Ahmed Patel at a tea party in Delhi. According to Ghosh, the meeting took place at Trinamool MP and former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi’s residence. Former minister of state for urban development Sougata Roy and Somen Mitra were the other party MPs present at the meeting. Mitra is perceived to be a rallying point for Trinamool dissenters. “I’ve heard that there was a secret meeting over tea at Dinesh Trivedi’s residence in Delhi, where Trivedi, Sougata Roy and Somen Mitra met Congress leader Ahmed Patel… I think you guys should ask these leaders as to what was discussed there,” Ghosh told media persons here after a fresh round of grilling at the Bidhan Nagar police commissionerate probing the multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam. [caption id=“attachment_1136685” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Ghosh denied he called on Gandhi at her residence. “I have not met anyone in Congress in Delhi… the news is absolutely false… yesterday when that news was flashed I was meeting Somen Mitra at his Delhi residence… I never visited Sonia Gandhi’s house”. Ghosh said he was yet to receive a show-cause letter for his utterances against the leadership at a blood donation camp in the city last week. Ghosh, who headed Saradha’s media arm till April, dropped a bombshell at a blood donation camp last Friday when he alleged he was being made a scapegoat by those involved in the scam and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the muddle. The party promptly announced it would slap show cause notices on Ghosh for his anti-party comments at the programme. Two other Lok Sabha members Tapas Pal and Satabdi Roy, who also aired their grievances at the forum, are facing similar action. Within hours of his outburst, police summoned Ghosh for interrogation. On Saturday, after four hours of questioning, Ghosh alleged a “conspiracy” has been hatched against him. The journalist-turned-MP has virtually threatened his party saying he was not “revealing things for the sake of courtesy” and demanded the constitution of a party commission on the issue, as “I don’t want to make public, things relating to the party”. Ghosh has also warned that he would seek permission to address the media if he was arrested. “I have not received any show-cause (notice) yet, neither have they invited me for the party programme (extended Trinamool general council meeting) on Sep 30.” But Ghosh said he has requested his party to allow him to speak at the meeting to clarify his position. Asked about the conspiracy in the Trinamool against him, he replied that was the only thing prevalent within the party. To queries about his claim that he has recorded a tell-all video on the scam and kept it with his friend in Delhi, Ghosh said: “If I don’t get a chance to voice my opinion only in that case I will release the recording in public.” IANS