Rajib Banerjee has not named anyone who, according to him, was carrying out propaganda against him.
Highlight
- Rajib Banerjee’s resignation has been accepted by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar
- He is the third minister to resign from the state government in a month.
- He claimed that some TMC leaders were carrying out propaganda against him.
Calcutta:
West Bengal Minister Rajib Banerjee resigned from government today citing a portfolio change two years ago and broke down on camera, saying: “I never thought there would come a day when I would have to take such a difficult step.” He is the third minister to resign this month amid an exodus from the Trinamool Congress of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the elections.
Banerjee did not respond to questions about whether he was addressing the BJP, like dozens of Trinamool Congress leaders before him.
When he left Governor Raj Bhavan’s house after surrendering his resignation, he told the media that he was hurt when he learned from television one fine day that he had lost the Ministry of Irrigation and had been transferred to Bosques. On the belated response to something that happened two years ago, he said that he did not take any steps as he was stopped by senior leaders.
“There is no problem with the portfolio change, but I was hurt by the way it was done,” Banerjee said. “I am grateful to Mamata Banerjee for guiding me through all these years. I reiterate my commitment to working for the people of Bengal.”
While there is no formal announcement, Banerjee is expected to join the BJP on January 31, when one of the party’s top leaders, Interior Minister Amit Shah, will address a rally in Howrah.
His resignation comes days after he complained that “some leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)” carried out propaganda against him. He had made several discordant notes against the government and the party over the past two months. TMC leader and senior minister Partha Chatterjee met with him at least twice, to try to get him to come back.
“There are some leaders in the party who only exploit the workers. They make false propaganda against me using some party workers,” he said on January 16 during a Facebook Live session, according to an ANI report. However, he did not reveal any names.
In the bitter run up to the Bengal elections scheduled for May, dozens of leaders and workers left Trinamool for the BJP.
In December, Mamata Banerjee lost her top aide Suvendu Adhikari, who first resigned as minister after a prolonged period of uncertainty and then immediately joined the BJP. More than 40 more leaders and workers followed him outside of Trinamool.
On January 5, the Minister of State for Sports, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, resigned. He, however, has not left the party.
The BJP, meanwhile, is investing a considerable amount of time and energy in its campaign to overthrow the Mamata Banerjee government.
Party heavyweights like Chairman JP Nadda and Amit Shah have been visiting the state regularly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in Kolkata tomorrow to mark the anniversary of the birth of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
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