Kolkata: Ahead of the state Assembly polls, West Bengal Cabinet Minister Rajib Banerjee resigned from his post on Friday.
Banerjee was the Forest Minister in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet.
In the resignation letter to the Chief Minister, he did not mention the reason behind his decision.
Rajib Banerjee joined the league of those leaders who have resigned from the TMC government.
Former Transport Minister in the TMC government, Suvendu Adhikari among several others joined the BJP in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a rally in Midnapore in West Bengal on December 19 last year.
Speculation was rife about Rajib Banerjee's strained relations with the party for sometime now. With Suvendu Adhikari switching sides and joining the saffron brigade, Trinamool satraps have been working the midnight oil to keep Rajib within the party fold. Several rounds of meetings were held with the Domjur MLA, where Mamata's close condidants expressed hope that the disgruntled Rajib would not ditch the party ahead of the crucial elections. Matters, however, came to the brink earlier this month on the 16th when Rajib Banerjee announced that he would take to the social media and have a message for his followers. Everyone was expecting things had gone wrong eventually. But, Rajib on extended Sankranti greeetings and gave out nothing.
Earlier, Rajib Banerjee had expressed his discontentment over a few leaders in the TMC without revealing their names on Facebook. "I want to work for the people and there are a few leaders who have been creating obstacles in my work. They falsely implicate my words. I feel sad when the top leadership does not say anything to these leaders," he had said.
Elections for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are slated to take place later this year.
With input from agencies
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