Suvendu Adhikari meets Bengal Speaker, says resignation as MLA accepted

Suvendu Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress minister and MLA, quit all posts and had switched over to the saffron camp last week.

Suvendu Adhikari, who recently quit as Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker, said on Monday that his resignation as MLA has been accepted by Speaker Biman Banerjee. The Speaker had asked Adhikari to appear before him today.

File photo of Suvendu Adhikari. (PTI Photo)

“Assembly speaker had called me regarding my resignation as MLA of the House. Today, I met him... I was told my resignation has been accepted,” said Adhikari, newly-inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.

“Suvendu Adhikari appeared before me today & told me that he resigned without being under anyone else’s influence. I am satisfied that his resignation is voluntary & genuine. I accept his resignation with immediate effect,” said the Speaker.

Adhikari, a former TMC minister and MLA, quit all posts and had switched over to the saffron camp last week. He had submitted his resignation as MLA at the Assembly secretariat on December 16. The speaker was not present in the House at that time.

TMC minister Subrata Mukherjee on Sunday said that there was no need to raise a hue and cry over the recent defections from the party, as “traitors and backstabbers have existed since time immemorial”.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who was in Bengal on a two-day visit, said on Sunday that the Trinamool Congress’ ‘Ma, Mati aur Manush’ slogan is non-existent now and it is limited to being a family party today.

“Mamata Banerjee started with ‘Ma, Mati aur Manush’ slogan. But this slogan is not to be seen anywhere today because of appeasement policy and dictatorship. TMC is limited to being a family party today,” Shah said at a press conference here.

“Instead of being concerned about the 10 crore people of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is concerned about making her nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) the chief minister of West Bengal,” he added.