The Trinamool Congress, which is in power in West Bengal, has come under fire from the Bharatiya Janata Party after the wife of a TMC legislator in Kolkata won a lottery jackpot worth Rs. 1 crore. Vivek Gupta is a TMC MLA from the Jorasanko constituency in Kolkata district.
Ruchika Gupta, the wife of TMC MLA Vivek Gupta from the Jorasanko constituency in the Kolkata district, took home the $1 million first prize in a weekly lottery. According to a newspaper advertisement by the lottery firm, “Dear Lottery,” the draw for the lottery took place on August 31.
Suvendu Adhikari, the head of the state assembly’s opposition, shared the lottery advertising on Twitter and claimed that there was “some convoluted relationship” between the lottery corporation and the TMC.
“I’ve been saying this all along, that Dear (Bhaipo) Lottery & TMC have a tangled relationship. It’s an easy way to launder money,” Adhikari tweeted on Thursday. “Common people buy tickets but TMC leaders win bumper prize. First Anubrata Mondal won the jackpot & now TMC MLA Vivek Gupta’s wife has won ( ₹)1 crore.”
Further, he said that in November 2021, he had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging a connection between the lottery corporation and the TMC and demanding a probe by an independent body.
He had tweeted, “The impoverished people of WB are getting attracted by the possibility of winning quick money and are becoming addicted.” They are spending their hard-earned money on such tickets because they have easy access, and unscrupulous TMC officials profit at their cost.
Ruchika had stated in the advertisement that she would use the funds to better her family’s financial situation. The state’s ruling party’s former Rajya Sabha MP is her legislator spouse. Her spouse called the idea of someone being targeted “extremely terrible” and “shameful.”
“If my wife has done a crime, then lakhs of people have committed this crime. She had purchased a lottery ticket and won the first prize,” said Vivek Gupta. “If you need to take action, then do it against all those who have purchased lottery tickets and won prizes.”
He claimed that he received a call from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), saying they would come to his house. “They are welcome as they have the powers,” he added.
HT reached out to the lottery company over phone and email, but did not receive an immediate response.
“Every week, some or the other person wins the lottery prize. Sometime the winner may have a link with any political party,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh. “If there is anything illegal, why it is being allowed to operate? The Centre should stop lottery in the country.”
He is currently being held in custody after being captured on August 11 by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with an alleged multi-million dollar livestock smuggling conspiracy in West Bengal.
Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC general secretary and the nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was singled out for criticism by BJP state unit president Sukanta Majumdar.
There are many parties involved.As soon as the ED began digging, skeletons would emerge. Firhad Hakim, a state minister for the TMC, responded, “Neither Adhikari nor I are to blame for this (the investigation). Give control of the problem to the tax division. He might inquire about the income tax.