AMN
Founder member of Trinamool Congress Mukul Roy today resigned from Rajya Sabha. Mr Roy submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.
Mr Roy said, he has also resigned from all posts of Trinamool Congress. Mr Roy said, he will go for leave and then decide his future course of action.
To a question at a crowded press conference here, he attributed that one of the reasons for his decision to part ways with Trinamool Congress – the party he co-founded with Mamata Banerjee in December 1997 – was alleged “dictatorial” style and “dynastic politics” that has cropped up in Trinamool Congress. “Dynastic politics is harming everyone at the national level…not to talk about only West Bengal,” he replied to a pointed question.
“Trinamool Congress was formed in 1997 to oppose Congress….Then we associated with BJP all along till 2007. Now Congress is not untouchable. So why not merge Trinamool Congress with Congress,” Mr Roy told reporters here after he tendered his resignation as Member of the Rajya Sabha. Once a powerful second-in-command, Mr Roy, a longtime trusted aide of Mamata Banerjee, has fallen apart with Trinamool leadership and has been “suspended” by the party. Answering a volley of questions, he went onto describe senior Trinamool Congress leaders like Partho Chatterjee as “baccha chheley (kid)” and said, he does not consider BJP a communal party.
“It is true, we are hobnobbing with RSS leaders at times…This is nothing new, I did it with the knowledge of party chief Mamata Banerjee in 2003. Ashok Singhal also met us,” said Mr Roy, however making it clear that no final decision has been taken on whether he would join the BJP or float a new party.