Kolkata: “Disillusioned” with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former West Bengal cabinet minister Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay is quitting politics.
In an interview to ThePrint, the two-term MLA spoke of his disenchantment with colleagues in the Trinamool Congress, saying he was “hurt” by the statements some leaders made about his daughter-in-law Ankhi Das, the former Facebook public policy chief for India and other Asian nations, when she was accused last year of ignoring hate speech by BJP leaders to secure the social media giant’s business interests in India.
A section of Trinamool leaders, lacking “etiquette” and “involved in corruption”, is pulling down the party, he said.
“Nobody contacted me since then (the Facebook controversy), no one ever called or texted me to inquire about my health,” said the Burdwan Dakshin MLA.
“The leaders currently holding positions are devoid of etiquette. I don’t wish to remain a part of such a party. I am disillusioned. This is not the same Mamata Banerjee who inspired me to join politics and fight to oust the CPI(M),” he added.
The state government, he said, didn’t give him a chance to work for the people, which prompted him to take the decision to quit politics.
A week ago, Chattopadhyay wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, expressing his unwillingness to contest elections and his decision of quitting politics. The letter, Chattopadhyay said, has yet to elicit any response from the party.
An academic who is now in his 80s, Chattopadhyay defeated former industry minister and influential CPI(M) leader Nirupam Sen in the 2011 West Bengal assembly polls. In the first term of the Mamata Banerjee government, he held multiple cabinet portfolios. He is believed to have been kept away from a ministerial role in his second term owing to age.
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‘Distressed and disgusted’
Chattopadhyay said he was “ailing”, before adding that he was “distressed and disgusted with the routine allegations of extortion, corruption and violence against my party colleagues”.
“I feel sad hearing the language they speak, trampling Bengali pride. So, I decided to dissociate myself from the party and present form of politics,” he added.
He said he never asked for a ticket, and did not expect a cabinet berth. “I would have never quit Trinamool, had I got a little respect. We were part of Mamata Banerjee’s fierce battle against the CPI(M). We would have never deserted her. But it seems that the party is not in her hands anymore. The leaders have no connection with the masses.
“I know, a section will say that we won in our respective constituencies because we represented Mamata Banerjee’s party,” he said. “But these are signs of illiteracy that I can now see in some so-called leaders.”
Chattopadhyay added that he is grateful “to the party for having nominated me as a candidate, but people loved me”.
“They are sad knowing my decision to quit. It is not true that all candidates won as they represented Mamata Banerjee. If that is true, all candidates should have won,” he said. “If the party runs in such an autocratic manner, where other members have no identity or existence, then there is no democracy. We tried to voice our concern, but there is no such platform,” he added.
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Not the first to quit
Chattopadhyay is one of three Trinamool Congress members who have opted out of the upcoming elections over the past month.
Former minister Upen Biswas wrote to the party last month, saying he would not contest the upcoming elections. “The leader overtimes says that she is the only candidate for the main post, all others are lamp posts. I do not want to become a lamp post. So I decided to stay away from elections,” he told ThePrint.
MLA and veteran actor Chiranjit Chakraborti wrote to the chief minister last week, seeking her approval to quit politics. He told a TV channel this week that he did not want to be in politics anymore and wished to return to his “apolitical life”.
Many leaders have hinted at disenchantment with the Trinamool Congress in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections. Several party members have also quit the party to join the BJP, which has emerged as Mamata’s biggest competitor this poll season.
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