Kolkata, June 23 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday accused the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of resorting to major financial irregularities in organising the annual Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).
Participating in a debate over the budget proposals of state Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, tabled in the assembly on Monday, Adhikari alleged that the former regime illegally paid Rs 325 crore to a national industry association for the summit.
On Monday, Finance Minister Dasgupta presented the full budget for the 2026-27 financial year. Discussions on it will continue till June 25.
During Tuesday’s discussion, Adhikari directly attacked Mamata Banerjee on corruption in BGBS. Showing a file to opposition MLAs, he claimed it carried her signature endorsing the illegal payment of Rs 324.73 crore to the industry association.
“The payment made on this count was totally illegal and was a clear case of corruption. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Every single corruption in the previous government will be probed,” Adhikari said.
This is not the first time Adhikari has raised the issue. On June 13, he told media persons that he had ordered a probe into payments of Rs 635 crore to an advertising-cum-event management company by the Mamata Banerjee-led government for organising BGBS.
“Mamata Banerjee’s government paid Rs 635 crore to a particular event management company for organising BGBS. The matter will be looked into. There will be an investigation to find out under which heads Rs 635 crore were spent,” Adhikari had said then.
However, he did not directly accuse Mamata Banerjee of involvement at that time, unlike his statement in the assembly today.
–IANS
src/dan
