Kolkata: West Bengal forest minister Rajib Banerjee on Friday quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet in what appears to be the latest case of a Trinamool Congress leader going public with his unhappiness.
In a letter to the chief minister, Banerjee said he was tendering his resignation as a cabinet minister. In it, he did not cite any reasons.
This is to inform you that I am resigning as the Minister in Charge, Department of Forest, West Bengal from today. pic.twitter.com/dfVq6aVxUj
— Rajib Banerjee (@RajibBaitc) January 22, 2021
Shortly afterwards, on his way out of Governor Jagdeep Dhankar’s residence, Banerjee had an emotional interaction with reporters, where he got tearful while saying that he was “deeply hurt” by the personal attacks aimed at him for airing grievances against a section of TMC leaders.
“I had grievances against some of the party’s senior members and informed the leadership about it. I also had a word with party supremo, but nothing happened. Instead, I was personally attacked by a section of the leaders,” he said.
Banerjee has not left the TMC yet.
Banerjee said that Mamata Banerjee’s attitude towards him had been reflected in her move to remove him as irrigation minister – a fact he discovered on a news channel – two and half years ago. Back then, he said, he had tried to quit the cabinet, but was stopped by the chief minister herself.
In the same interaction, he also thanked the chief minister profusely, and said that he would always remain “indebted to her for allowing him to serve the people of the state”.
TMC sources told The Wire that for the past two and half months, Banerjee had been largely missing from cabinet meetings.
Banerjee is a civil engineer and has had a career in the corporate world, which he quit to join politics. Banerjee’s uncle, Mrityunjay Banerjee, was a renowned economist and a key figure in the state Congress cabinet.
The Domjur MLA joins a string of TMC leaders and legislators who recently quit the Mamata Banerjee camp.
Most of them, including his former cabinet colleague Suvendu Adhikari, have switched over to the BJP.
(With PTI inputs)