West Bengal Minister Rajib Banerjee Resigns From WB Govt & Trinamool Congress

West Bengal Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee resigned from his position today. The cabinet minister did not give any reasons for his resignation. His resignation, however, comes in the middle of a recent string of exits from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) as the state gears up for Assembly elections in the months of March-April. He is the third minister to resign from the state government in one month.

Minister Banerjee sent a letter to the Chief Minister saying, "I regret to inform you that I hereby tender my resignation from my Office as Cabinet Minister being in charge of Forest Department on today, i.e., On 22nd of January, 2021. " The letter was later accepted by West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

His resignation comes in a matter of days after he had criticized some TMC leaders circulating propaganda against him. He had also been in conflict against the state government and the party over for the past two months. Senior TMC leader and minister Partha Chatterjee reportedly had held at least two rounds of talks with Mr Banerjee.

On January 16 during a social media live session, he claimed that some leaders in the TMC exploit party workers, according to a report by ANI. Mr Banerjee, however, did not reveal any names.

In light of the upcoming elections, West Bengal is going through political confusion, especially with a string of defections of leaders and workers from the ruling TMC to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in recent months.

West Bengal Cabinet Minister Suvendu Adhikari quit the government and the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP in December last year. He was followed by a large number of other TMC functionaries and leaders.

Minister of State for Sports Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigned on January 5. He, however, has not quit as Member of the Legislative Assembly or from the party.

Meanwhile, BJP is focussed on replacing the incumbent Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool West Bengal government.

Party titans such as President JP Nadda and Union Minister Amit Shah have been regularly making visits to the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, is slated to be in Kolkata over the coming weekend.

Although no formal announcements have been made yet, Mr Banerjee is expected to join the BJP on January 31 when Mr Shah will be in the state to hold a rally in Howrah.

Also Read: Another Trinamool Congress legislator jumps ship to BJP in West Bengal

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