West Bengal Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports and former Indian cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla on Tuesday resigned from the Trinamool Congress.
Mr. Shukla, the Howrah North MLA, wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about his decision. The former Indian cricketer will remain an MLA till the term of the State Assembly expires.
Ms Banerjee, who accepted the resignation, said the Minister wanted to retire from politics to concentrate on his sports activities.
“One can do it. What does it matter? Laxmi is a good boy. He has written in his letter that he wants to retire from politics to concentrate on his sports... I want him to do well in his sports and we wish him well. There is no misunderstanding on the matter,” she said speaking to journalists at the State Assembly.
The Chief Minister said she has urged Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to accept the resignation.
Later Mr. Dhankhar in a press statement said he had accepted the resignation and the charge of the departments would rest with Aroop Biswas, a member of Ms. Banerjee’s Cabinet.
Despite the remarks by the Chief Minister, the development comes as yet another set back and major embarrassment for the Trinamool Congress which is grappling with a series of defections and the resignation of Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who joined BJP last month.
The Trinamool Congress called the development “unfortunate” and said it was like leaving a “battlefield before the polls”.
In a cricketing analogy, the State BJP leadership said that with elections approaching, the Trinamool Congress was losing its wickets at regular intervals. BJP leadership added that the party was willing to provide Mr Shukla a platform if he wants to continue with politics.
Meanwhile, another party MLA Vaishali Dalmiya representing the Bally Assembly constituency adjacent to Mr. Shukla’s (Howrah North) sounded a discordant note.
“There are some negative-minded people in our party who continuously harass us. They do not allow legislators to work, try to demean them. Other parties like the CPI(M), Congress or the BJP do not insult us. It is our own party members like block president or councilors who oppose us,” Ms. Dalmiya said.
Another prominent Minister Rajib Banerjee, who has also expressed displeasure with the Trinamool Congress functioning, stayed away from Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
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