The political turmoil within the Trinamool Congress, triggered by the resignation of former state minister and a close associate of Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari, in the month of December, ceases to end. Amidst a string of resignations, two-time MLA from Diamond Harbour Dipak Haldar also resigned from the party on Monday.
According to a local news report, Haldar has resigned from all the posts of the party. He had sent his letter of resignation to the party office by Speedpost. Haldar’s resignation letter reached the party headquarters, Trinamool Bhavan in Topsia, Kolkata on Monday afternoon.
West Bengal: Trinamool Congress MLA Dipak Haldar from Diamond Harbour constituency resigns from the party. pic.twitter.com/PDqAZvsqU6
— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2021
“I am a two-time MLA. But, since 2017, I am not allowed to work properly for the masses. Despite informing the leadership, no action was taken to improve the situation. I am not informed about any party programme. I am answerable to the people of my constituency and supporters. So I have decided to quit the party. I will send my resignation to the district and state president soon,” the TMC MLA said.
Though Dipak Haldar has been tight-lipped, reports have it that he may join the BJP in Baruipur on Tuesday.
Dipak Haldar has joined the likes of former Forest Minister of West Bengal Rajib Banerjee, Trinamool MLA from Bali, Baishali Dalmiya, Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghoshal, Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty, and former MLA and five-term civic chief of Ranaghat Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, who were flown in to join the BJP yesterday.
Prior to this, six MLAs of the TMC along with former party stalwart Suvendu Adhikari had also defected to the BJP in less than 72 hours. On January 5, West Bengal Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports Laxmi Ratan Shukla had resigned from his post. He will, however, continue as an MLA.
All in all, 17 MLAs of the Trinamool Congress and one TMC MP have crossed over to the BJP in recent times.
Before putting down his papers, Dipak Haldar lashed out at Mamata Banerjee government for not allowing him to work for the public. “I am a two-time MLA. But, since 2017, I am not allowed to work properly for the masses. Despite informing the leadership, no action was taken to improve the situation. I am not informed about any party programme. I am answerable to the people of my constituency and supporters. So I have decided to quit the party. I will send my resignation to the district and state president soon,” he said.
According to reports, for the last few months, Haldar had been miffed with the party leadership and had been speaking against it.
In 2015, Dipak Haldar was suspended from the party after he was arrested for his alleged involvement in a clash between rival factions of the party’s students’ front in a district’s college. Later he was out on bail and was reinstated in the party.
With the West Bengal Assembly elections round the corner, it would now be interesting to see how Mamata Banerjee deals with this mass exodus from her party.