Not a shock, says Trinamool after Dinesh Trivedi announces resignation

Dinesh Trivedi’s resignation from the Rajya Sabha will give chance to other grassroots leaders, a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress said after the member of Parliament announced he will quit the House on Friday, months ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal. Saugata Roy, a senior leader of the ruling party in the eastern state, said the party will send another 'grassroots’ worker to the Upper House.

“We didn't know he would resign. However, it is not a shock. He was not a grassroots leader and had lost the Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee sent him to the Rajya Sabha. 'Trinamool' means grassroots. It will give chance to other grassroots workers to emerge,” Roy was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

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Trivedi had met the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP’s) chief Sharad Pawar and expressed his dissatisfaction, Roy said. "I did not know he (Trivedi) would resign as he did not tell the party as well. He expressed dissatisfaction to Sharad Pawar but nobody encouraged him to resign and this decision came all of a sudden. I spoke to him four to five days back and he did not convey that he will take this extreme step," he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Trivedi’s announcement about his resignation, citing his inability to do anything against the violence in his state, comes after a series of exits from Mamata Banerjee's party ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections in April-May. Several leaders of the Trinamool, including Suvendu Adhikari, state minister Rajib Banerjee and a few other Trinamool Congress MLAs, left West Bengal’s ruling party in January and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several others have also followed suit.

"Many people have left the party but it does not have any impact on the TMC. The TMC is not a sinking ship,” Roy said, according to ANI.

Soon after Trivedi said he will quit, the BJP’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said he is welcome to join them. “Not just Dinesh Trivedi ji, whoever wants to do honest work, cannot stay in Trinamool Congress. If he wants to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, we will welcome him,” Vijayvargiya said, according to news agency ANI.

The assembly elections for 294 seats in West Bengal are scheduled to be held in April-May year. However, the Election Commission of India is yet to declare the dates for the polls.

(With agency inputs)