On Monday, the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have to take the legal route if the former party MLA Mukul Roy did not resign from his post by June 15. Adhikari said he would approach the speaker if Mukul Roy did not resign by Tuesday. BJP wants to dismiss Mukul Roy in accordance with anti-defection law.
Governor West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar, has been vocal about this issue. But the Trinamool sources said that Mukul Roy is not leaving the post of MLA for now. Rather, there are plans to give him more important responsibilities within the legislature, sources said.
“The MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar constituency has quit the BJP. He should resign as a legislator by tomorrow (June 15), else I will write to the Assembly speaker and request him to take action against him as per the anti-defection law. If we fail to get justice from the speaker, we will look for other legal options,” Adhikari said.
However, in a rebuttal, TMC leader Tapas Roy said, “Before making such a statement, he should look at his own house. Charity begins at home. His father Sisir Kumar Adhikari is still holding the post of TMC MP. Can he explain to us why he is still holding the post?”
As long as the top leadership is not giving instructions, Mukul is the MLA, said a source. One of the possible reasons for this is that Mukul could be made the chairman of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee), one of the most important committees to be formed in the new assembly. Experienced and senior MLAs believe that it is not impossible according to the rules of the assembly.
In the words of a senior Trinamool leader, “Let’s not see what the BJP does! We have decided to go to fight. The BJP does not borrow any ethics. Then why are we going to show morality? Let’s see how far the BJP goes with Mukul!”
Opposition leader Shuvendu Adhikari, however, said on Monday that they would demand the Speaker to enact anti-defection law against Mukul on Wednesday.
According to Trinamool sources, the party has started thinking of fielding Mukul as PAC chairman, but no final decision has been taken yet. The whole matter is currently under the consideration of Mamata Banerjee.
On other hand, Trinamool has appealed to the Lok Sabha speaker to reject the membership of two MPs Sunil Mandal and Shishir Adhikari. Lok Sabha Trinamool leader Sudip Banerjee spoke to the speaker on the issue.