Amid speculation that more politicians might join the BJP ranks during Home Minister Amit Shah's January 31 rally in Howrah, another Bengal Minister Rajib Banerjee on Friday put in his papers holding out some "emotional details" before the media moments after tendering his resignation to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
An hour later, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly "removed" the Forest Minister from his position because there were some procedural lapses on his part in tendering his resignation. Sources at State Secretariat Nabanna said that he was being removed as he had tendered his resignation to the Governor instead of the Chief Minister who was his official appointee as the leader of the Cabinet.
While the Trinamool Congress leadership promptly responded to the latest resignation drama saying a bucket of water taken out of the ocean would not matter much, besides raising some feeble corruption charges against the "just former" Minister who was yet to quit the party, Rajib said he had made up his mind to resign more than two years ago after the Chief Minister removed him unceremoniously as the Irrigation Minister.
"Most regretfully I inform you that I have tendered my resignation from my office as Cabinet Minister being in charge of Forest Department," an emotional Rajib Banerjee said adding he had "never thought that such a situation will come someday … but I had taken a decision more than two years ago when the Chief Minister removed me from the Irrigation Department without any prior intimation … I had to know it from the television breaking news even as I was busy meeting my party men in North Bengal."
It was a hurtful situation as "the Chief Minister should at least have informed me before taking such decision … it should be the minimum courtesy … there is no problem in changing portfolios by the Chief Minister who is the master of the situation … but there is a way to do things … and why I still continued as the Forest Minister is because when I told her that I was quitting from all Government posts she persuaded me to continue and I could not disregard her requests at that point in time."
Rajib is still an MLA, a party member said that he would "continue to work for the people in future," dropping suggestions that he was in look out for some "platform."
He said, "I do not know which platform I will get and from where I will work for the people but I will continue to work for them till I am alive." Moments after Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh offered him a platform saying "though he still continues to be a TMC leader we have not problem accepting him in our party should he decide to join us."
Rajib is the third Minister to resign from the Government in a month after Suvendu Adhikari and Laxmi Ratan Shukla.
Rajib had been critical of the Government and the party telling openly in the public how corrupt sidekicks of top leadership always got the plum positions and the dedicated ones were ignored. In a Facebook Live post he rued the falling economic condition of Bengal where the youth were forced to leave the State in lakhs in search of jobs.
Reacting to the Friday's development Bengal Minister and TMC general secretary Partho Chatterjee said "a bucket of water taken out of the ocean does not dry it up and the TMC is that ocean," while Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee made suggestive statements saying the Forest Minister was aggrieved because "he was removed from the Irrigation Department where he had the opportunity to work with a large number of contractors."