Former Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Kumar Varma, who joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) a year ago and was appointed the party’s vice-president, resigned from the party on Friday. Mr. Varma, a former diplomat and well-known author, announced his decision on social media.
“Dear @MamataOfficial ji, Please accept my resignation from the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. I look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards, Pavan K. Varma,” Mr. Varma wrote on Twitter. Highly placed sources in the TMC said it was a “mutual parting” of ways and that Mr. Varma had informed the party about his decision to quit.
After the 2021 Assembly polls in West Bengal, in which the TMC won a landslide victory and came to power for a third term, many politicians from different States, particularly Goa, Assam and Bihar, joined the TMC. Mr. Varma was one of them. Some leaders including Luizinho Faleiro from Goa and Sushmita Dev from Assam were nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Varma’s resignation comes days after the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal to form the government in Bihar. Mr. Varma was expelled from the JD(U) in January 2020. Mr. Varma had been uncomfortable with the JD(U)‘s ties with the BJP and had sought “ideological clarity” from Mr. Kumar on the party’s stand on the BJP, beyond Bihar. The developments have triggered speculation about Mr. Varma’s return to the JD(U).
