Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed on Tuesday that he had not been informed that his resignation as the party’s West Bengal unit chief had been accepted, the Hindustan Times reported.
Chowdhury told reporters that he had resigned from the post after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which he lost the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency to cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress by more than 85,000 votes.
Baharampur was among the few remaining Congress strongholds in West Bengal. Chowdhury represented it continuously since 1999.
A party meeting was held in Kolkata on June 21, where a resolution was passed to dissolve the working committee of the Congress’ West Bengal unit, including the post of state president, India Today reported. The meeting was attended by West Bengal Congress in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir and other party leaders.
On Tuesday, Chowdhury claimed that he realised he had been removed from his post when Mir referred to him as the party’s “former president” during another meeting on Monday.
“The day Mallikarjun Kharge became the party president, all other posts of the party in the country became temporary, according to the Constitution of the party,” he said, according to India Today. “Even my post became temporary.”
“Kharge ji didn’t reply to my [resignation] letter,” Chowdhury claimed. “If accepted, I should be informed as per courtesy.”
The Congress leader also said that he had taken responsibility for the party’s results in West Bengal. “Even though I was the temporary party president, it was my responsibility,” he said.
West Bengal saw a three-cornered contest between the Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress-Left alliance during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The state has 42 seats in the House.
While the Congress won a single seat, the Trinamool Congress won 29. The BJP managed to clinch 12 seats.
The Trinamool Congress and the Congress contested against each other in the state even though they are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.
In the run-up to the elections, Chowdhury frequently criticised West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, even though the Congress and the ruling party were in discussion about a possible seat-sharing arrangement, the Hindustan Times reported.
Subsequently, the Trinamool Congress called off the talks, blaming the Congress leader for its decision.
On Wednesday, Mir confirmed that Chowdhury had resigned as the president of the party’s West Bengal unit after the Lok Sabha elections, PTI reported. He added that the process to appoint a new chief was underway.
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