The Trinamool Congress suffered another setback on Monday as veteran leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned from both the Upper House and the party after more than a decade in Parliament.
In his resignation letter to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Roy launched a sharp attack on the party's functioning, claiming that voters in West Bengal had rejected the Trinamool Congress over allegations of corruption, poor governance, law-and-order concerns and the treatment of women.
"The people of Bengal have rejected the party's rampant corruption, extreme oppression of women and its failure across key sectors, including education, healthcare, industry, employment and law and order," Roy wrote.
The former TMC MP also praised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying voters had delivered the party an unprecedented mandate in West Bengal and expressing confidence in the new government's development agenda.
"The voters have, for the first time in Bengal's history, given the BJP a massive victory in terms of seats. The newly elected government has already begun implementing programmes aimed at the state's development and reconstruction," he said.
Roy's resignation comes at a politically sensitive time for the Trinamool Congress, which is grappling with the fallout of its poor performance in the recent Assembly elections. The development is being viewed as another blow to Mamata Banerjee's leadership as she engages with opposition parties in Delhi in an effort to revive the INDIA bloc and chart a strategy against the BJP.
