Three days after the arrest and hospitalization of West Bengal Forest Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted Mallick s medical report to the court on the health condition of the minister on Monday. Meanwhile, Mallick was released from a private hospital after treatment and handed over to the ED, who had arrested him in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system.
Senior Trinamool leaders had changed camps to BJP, starting from Mukul Ray and Trinamool minister Rajib Banerjee, along with several MLAs. Following the 2021 assembly polls, the MLAs went back to Trinamool Congress again and thus the total number of BJP MLAs got reduced from 77 to 67. The BJP has continued to lose MLAs following the 2021 landslide victory of Trinamool Congress in assembly polls, when it won 77 seats and emerged as the main Opposition party.
Several prominent leaders, including former Congress MLAs Chandra Shekhar Vaid and Nandlal Poonia, as well as former Jaipur mayor Jyoti Khandelwal, have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after leaving the Congress. Other leaders who made the switch to the BJP include Hari Singh Charan, who previously contested the Assembly election as an independent candidate, Congress leader Sanwarmal Meharia, and former IPS officers Kesar Singh Shekhawat and Bhim Singh.
West Bengal Forest Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam following an extensive 20-hour raid and interrogation. He will appear in a PMLA court in Kolkata, and the ED will seek his custody after a medical examination. Mallick alleges a deep conspiracy and points to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari s involvement.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids in eight locations on Thursday, including the residences of state Forest Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, in connection with an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam. Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee criticized the raids, calling them "dirty politics" and accusing the government of engaging in "political vendetta" to target her ministers.