BJP leader accused of amassing crores; TMC seeks CBI, ED probe

Kolkata: In a startling development, Ajay Mukherjee, a resident of Rampurhat in Birbhum and believed to be a BJP leader, has lodged a complaint via e-mail with BJP national president JP Nadda, national general secretary Sunil Bansal and Union Home minister Amit Shah, accusing the saffron party’s state general secretary Jagannath Chatterjee of amassing substantial property in the names of his family members between 2023 and 2025. Reacting to the allegations, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh stated that the matter is serious and warrants an investigation by Central agencies like the CBI, ED, or the state CID. In his e-mail, Mukherjee also urged the top BJP leadership to initiate an investigation into Jagannath Chatterjee’s activities since his induction into the party.

He included a detailed list of properties that he claims were acquired in the names of Chatterjee’s close family members—his brother Rudra Prasad Chatterjee, father Bhubaneswar Chatterjee, mother Minati Chatterjee, and sister-in-law Aparupa Bhattacharya. According to Mukherjee, the total value of these properties amounts to several crores of rupees. Kunal Ghosh during a Press conference without taking Chatterjee’s name demanded an investigation by the CBI or ED into the matter. Ghosh said: “A complaint has come from within the BJP against an important leader of the state BJP which made some startling claims that between 2023 and 2025, a key figure of BJP who remains in-volved in issuing posts and tickets acquired a huge property in the names of his family members. The number of the plots was mentioned in the complaint e-mail. Allegations have come from within the BJP. These documents should be handed over to the CBI and ED. If they don’t submit them to ED/CBI, I will make sure that these documents reach these Central agencies. Serious corruption charges have surfaced.” Ghosh also claimed that relatives of this state BJP leader amassed significant amounts of property during this time. Most of these properties, as stated in the complaint, were located in Birbhum. “If a BJP leader wants a probe against another BJP leader, we would then assume that there must be some relevance. If one’s property goes up disproportionately during a short span of time, why will not there be a CBI probe? CBI or ED should probe if the BJP leader has acquired a huge amount of properties in his relatives’ names. We will also send a copy to the CID as well. It demands an investigation,” Ghosh added. For example, as per the complaint, a flat in Bidhannagar was under the name of Aparupa Bhattacharyya (sister-in-law of Chatterjee as the complainant claims) the value of the property was about Rs 4 crore in 2023. “In his role as Election Co-In-Charge for the previous Lok Sabha election 2024, he reportedly formed alliances with district presidents to establish fictitious booths. It has been alleged that for every 100 fake booths created, he embezzled approximately Rs 20 lakh, with an allocation of Rs 20,000 per booth. Concerns have been raised regarding the potential misuse of funds in anticipation of the up-coming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it is feared that millions may be misappropriated through ex-cessive reporting of fictitious booths,” reads the e-mail. When contacted, Chatterjee refused to comment anything on this. He said to verify the facts before publishing anything.

The e-mail in question, however, could not be verified by this newspaper.