In a tit-for-tat deal, six Congress ministers today resigned from the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government today, completing the end of a three and a half year alliance between the two parties.
Later on the day, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Pradip Bhattacharjee and the ministers met governor M K Narayanan at Raj Bhavan.
After submitting his resignation as a state Cabinet minister to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Manas Bhunia said at Writers’ Building, “We submitted the resignation to Banerjee and she said that we worked together and have done a good job. If we need anything we should let the Chief Minister know.”
Bhunia added that Banerjee also asked for suggestions for improving governance from the resigned ministers. The state assembly had two cabinet and four ministers of state from the Congress. The move was triggered by a pullout announcement from the Centre by Banerjee and subsequent resignation of six TMC ministers from the central government.
TMC which has 185 members in the assembly will not need the support or 42 Congress MLAs. However, Congress will now become the main opposition in the state as CPI(M) has 38 seats. The Left Front alliance, however, has 60 seats.
Meanwhile, in a Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre scheduled next week, some ministerial berths will be given to state Congress leaders. According to sources, if Pradip Bhattacharjee gets a ministership at the Centre, it may lead to a reshuffle at WBPCC too.