Amid the ongoing exits from TMC ahead of the assembly polls, Haldar lashed out at the party leadership for “not allowing him to work for the masses”.
Days after Rajib Banerjee quit as Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA, two-time legislator from Diamond Harbour Dipak Haldar Monday has also resigned from the party but remained tight-lipped on joining the saffron camp.
Amid the ongoing exits from TMC ahead of the assembly polls, Haldar lashed out at the party leadership for “not allowing him to work for the masses”.
“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.
Besides Rajib Banerjee, Baishali Dalmiya (Trinamool MLA from Bally, Howrah) and Prabir Ghosal (Trinamool MLA from Uttarpara in Hooghly) have publicly spoken against the party. While some have resigned from their posts, others have been suspended by the party.
For the last few months, Haldar has been speaking against the party leadership. Haldar, considered to be a close associate of BJP leader Sovan Chatterjee, since his days in the TMC, recently met the latter at his residence in South Kolkata. In 2015, 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 college.
He came out on bail later and was reinstated in the party. Since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP bagged 18 seats, just four less than the ruling TMC and emerged as its main challenger in Bengal, 17 MLAs of the Trinamool Congress, one TMC MP, three each from the Congress and the CPI(M) and one from CPI have crossed over to the saffron camp.
However, except for the former state cabinet ministers Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee, none of them resigned as MLAs.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly are likely to be held in April-May this year.
(With inputs from PTI)
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