Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said on 8 June that he has resigned from Rajya Sabha and the party led by former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Shekhar is the first Member of Parliament to resign from TMC after recent poll debacle in West Bengal assembly elections.
The resignation comes on a day when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is in Delhi to take part in crucial meeting of INDIA bloc.
Ray, a veteran leader and one of the most articulate voices of the TMC in Parliament, submitted his resignation to the Rajya Sabha chairman and simultaneously announced his decision to quit the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
Ray's resignation letter mentions mandate in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party in recently-held assembly elections ending the "15-year anarchical rule of TMC arising out of widespread unbridled corruption, atrocities committed against women" among other claims.
The letter mentions that the newly inducted BJP government has started taking "initiatives for overall development and reconstruction of West Bengal as per its election manifesto.
"In respectful acceptance of the historic verdict of the people, I have resigned today from the Rajya Sabha as a member and also from the primary membership of TMC," the letter reads.
The development comes at a time when the TMC is grappling with an unprecedented internal crisis, following a rebellion in its legislative wing and growing tensions among different factions within the organisation.
Currently, Trinamool has 42 MPs across both Houses, behind only the BJP and the Congress.
And if the MPs were to rebel, the TMC could find itself headed for an internal showdown – aTMC-versus-TMC battlereminiscent of the split that rocked the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra many years ago. The key difference, however, is that such a split would have no impact on the government in West Bengal.
In Maharashtra, the faction led by Eknath Shinde eventually came to power after breaking away from the Shiv Sena. In West Bengal, however, a similar rebellion would not alter the ruling dispensation, as the TMC is currently in the Opposition.
(With agency inputs)
