KOLKATA: At a time when three heavyweight lawmakers of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress resigned within a span of 24-hours, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged her colleagues not to fear and work unitedly in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.
Banerjee convened a high-level meeting with senior party leaders at her south Kolkata Kalighat residence this evening to discuss the strategy of holding back Trinamool members.
According to party insiders, Banerjee reportedly told her party colleagues in a closed-door meeting “not to fear about anything”. She reportedly said that people are with her government. The door-to-door government campaign received enormous response from across the state and no one should get perturbed with who all are leaving the party. It is good that they are going, she said, as per sources.
Reports said that the CM also urged all her party members to fight the upcoming elections unitedly. She also said that her party, Trinamool Congress, would definitely secure an electoral victory in the crucial state assembly polls scheduled in 2021.
In a twin blow to the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress, ex-Nandigram lawmaker Suvendu Adhikari and Pandabeswar MLA Jitendra Tiwari resigned from the party’s primary membership on Thursday.
Tiwari also resigned from the post of chairman of the administrative board of the Asansol Municipal Corporation. He also resigned from the post of Trinamool Congress’ district president in West Burdwan on the same day. He sent his resignation to TMC state president Subrata Bakshi.
Trinamool Congress legislator from Barrackpore assembly constituency Shilbhadra Dutta also resigned on Friday morning. Besides these three, the party’s minority cell leader Kabirul Islam resigned on Friday, making it the fourth big exit in last 24 hours. Interestingly, Jitendra Tiwari on Friday declared that he was back in the party, calling his resignation a “mistake”. After meeting with a senior leader and state minister, he told reporters: “I never said anything about Didi (Mamata Banerjee) or joining BJP».
Earlier in the day, in a clear sign of strained nerves, the Bengal Assembly Speaker refused to accept the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari, who submitted his quit letter on THursday.
Speaker Biman Banerjee has asked Adhikari to meet him on Monday, saying his resignation letter was not in order and he was not satisfied that it was «genuine and voluntary».
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit poll-bound West Bengal on a two-day trip from Saturday, with the political atmosphere in the state heating up amid speculations of Suvendu Adhikari joining the BJP by the weekend.Shah will start his trip with a visit to Ramakrishna Mission Ashram on Saturday. He is also scheduled to meet a farmer family and have lunch with them. On the day, he will address a public rally on Midnapore College ground in Paschim Medinipur district.