Trinamool Congress MLA Silbhadra Dutta and the party’s minority cell general secretary Kabirul Islam on Friday resigned from their posts, reported NDTV. With these resignations, four politicians have quit from the party’s positions within a span of two days.
On Thursday, former West Bengal minister Suvendu Adhikari and MLA Jitendra Tiwari had quit ahead of the state Assembly elections next year. Five local TMC leaders in the Malda district also tendered their resignations on the same day.
Many of the rebel leaders are expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He is scheduled to visit the state on Saturday.
In a letter to West Bengal Trinamool Congress Minority Cell Haji SK Nurul Islam, Kabirul Islam said he was quitting from his position, reported ANI. “I do hereby tender my resignation from my office as ‘general secretary’ West Bengal Trinamool Congress minority cell,” it read. “Steps may be taken for immediate acceptance.”
“With due regards to you I am tendering my resignation as a member of All India Trinamool Congress as well as from all others position held by me in the party and its associate organisations with immediate effect,” Datta wrote in a letter, according to ANI.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee asked Adhikari to meet him on Monday, saying that his resignation letter was not in order. The Speaker said he was not satisfied that the letter was “genuine and voluntary”, reported NDTV.
On November 27, Adhikari had resigned as West Bengal transport minister. A day earlier, the prominent Trinamool Congress leader had resigned from the post of chairperson of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners.
Shortly after Adhikari quit from West Bengal’s Legislative Assembly, BJP Vice President Mukul Roy and the party’s state unit chief Dilip Ghosh said the saffron party would be happy to welcome him.
Adhikari, a two-term MP, had been in charge of the TMC in several districts, including Malda, Murshidabad, Purulia and Bankura. The 49-year-old-leader has a crucial support base in the state. He was also the face of the Trinamool Congress in the 2008 Nandigram movement, which by many accounts, was a major factor in the unseating of the Left Front government in the state in 2011.
Before his resignation, Adhikari had criticised Chief Minister Banerjee’s party openly, choosing to address his political rallies under non-TMC banners. In the last two to three months, he had skipped all party and Cabinet meetings as well.
Trinamool Congress leaders said that Adhikari had been unhappy with the rise of Banerjee’s nephew within the TMC. Besides, Adhikari is also believed to be displeased with the role of political strategist Prashant Kishore in party affairs.
On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had obliquely referred to Adhikari at a rally in the Jalpaiguri district. She accused rebels of profiting from the TMC and now seeking other options.
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