Former West Bengal minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia quits TMC amid party rift

Amid an intensifying rift within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), former West Bengal Minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia has resigned from the party, sending his resignation letter to TMC supremo and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Speaking to the media, he confirmed that he had submitted his resignation letter to Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to accept his resignation from the primary membership of the party.

"I sent my resignation letter to Mamata Banerjee and requested her to kindly accept my resignation from the primary membership of the party," he said.

Amid fluctuating exits from the TMC, party MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has confirmed that a group of 20 MPs has formally sought separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha, signalling a possible organisational split within the party's parliamentary ranks.

 

The list of MPs also includes Bapi Haldar, Dr. Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Bandyopadhyay, Jagadish Barma Basunia, Asit Kumar Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Rachna Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh, Khalilur Rahaman, Abu Taher Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Mitali Bag, Mala Roy, Kalipada Soren, Deepak Adhikari, June Malia, and Partha Bhowmick.

This move comes amid growing internal tensions within the TMC following the party's underwhelming performance in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, which has reportedly led to a widening rift between the party veterans and the central leadership headed by Mamata Banerjee.

On Thursday, TMC MP Prakash Chik Baraik, representing West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha, resigned from the Upper House. This is the third such resignation within a week.

On June 10, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sushmita Dev resigned as a member of the Upper House. On June 8, Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned as a member of the Upper House of Parliament and from the primary membership of the TMC.

Soon after resigning as a member of the Rajya Sabha amid the turmoil within Trinamool Congress, former TMC MP Prakash Chik Baraik on Thursday said that he has "accepted the opinion of the people" of West Bengal and then took the decision to resign from the Upper House.