TMC's Rajib Banerjee resigns as MLA; speculation rife he may cross over to BJP

I thank myparty supremo Mamata Banerjee for providing me with anopportunity to serve the masses, he said.Asked if he would quit the ruling party, thedisgruntled TMC leader, who had been critical of hiscolleagues on several occasions, said he is yet to take a callon the matter.I have not decided anything as yet.

Days after quitting the MamataBanerjee cabinet, TMC leader Rajib Banerjee on Friday resignedas the MLA of the West Bengal Assembly, as speculation that hemight join the saffron camp ahead of the state electionspicked up steam.

The former forest minister, who represented the DomjurAssembly seat, visited the state assembly in the morning andsubmitted his resignation to Speaker Biman Banerjee.

''I have resigned as MLA of the state assembly. I havesubmitted my resignation letter to the speaker. I thank myparty supremo Mamata Banerjee for providing me with anopportunity to serve the masses,'' he said.

Asked if he would quit the ruling party, thedisgruntled TMC leader, who had been critical of hiscolleagues on several occasions, said he is yet to take a callon the matter.

''I have not decided anything as yet. I will clear mystand tomorrow,'' he said.

Replying to a query about chances of his switchover tothe BJP, Banerjee said, ''If you want to serve the masses, youneed to be associated with a political party. People alwayswant a politician to be associated with a party. But I havenot spoken with BJP leaders so far,'' He, however, stressed that he will ''continue to servethe people of my constituency in the days to come''.

Incidentally, Union Home Minister Amit Shah isscheduled to address a rally in Banerjee's home districtHowrah on January 31.

Extending his gratitude to the chief minister, theformer minister said, ''Mamata Banerjee is like a mother figureto me. I am indebted to her for providing me with thisplatform... This is an emotional moment for me.'' Joining the growing list of dissenters who have putthe ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the assemblyelections, Banerjee last week put in his papers as the cabinetminister and said he was forced to take this decision afterbeing publicly humiliated by a section of the party's leadersfor airing his grievances over their style of functioning.

He is the third minister to quit the state cabinet inthe last two months after Suvendu Adhikari, who crossed overto the BJP, and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who expressed his desireto quit politics.

The TMC leadership, over the past one month, heldseveral rounds of dialogue with Banerjee to address hisgrievances. State parliamentary affairs minister ParthaChatterjee and the party's poll strategist Prashant Kishor hadmet the leader and tried to pacify him.

According to TMC sources, he had been havingdifferences over various issues with the district chairman ofHowrah and state minister Arup Roy.

Banerjee, a popular mass leader in Howrah, influenceseight of the 16 assembly seats in the district.

Elections to the 294-member assembly are likely to beheld in April-May this year.