The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday urged the Centre to sack Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, who admitted to having recommended a former colleague for an advisory role in the state government. Roy said the former colleague worked with him in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit in 1990.
Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of CPI(M), has accused Roy of “blatant cronyism, corruption and political partisanship”.
News website NewsCentral24x7 reported on Saturday that Roy had sent the bio-data of a man named Sarvadaman Ray to Chief Minister Biplab Deb on March 14. In his letter, Roy described the man as a “qualified chartered accountant” who was “interested to serve [the] government” in its outreach to entrepreneurs and examining accounts.
After the news report, the governor responded on Twitter, first calling it “yellow journalism” and “too funny for words”, but within minutes, tweeting, “Of course I wrote that letter!”
Roy said the letter was “not even confidential because it is a normal recommendation for a perfectly bona fide purpose”. He said the letter was a “perfectly normal and legitimate move”.
“I am recommending a person in an advisory capacity who has the qualifications,” he told The Indian Express. “What is remotely improper about it? Shall I recommend an unknown person?”
The CPI(M) called the letter “unprecedented”. “Nothing like this has happened before in the state,” the party’s state unit secretary Bijan Dhar told Hindustan Times.
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