Suvendu Adhikari had tendered his resignation as a TMC MLA on Wednesday, after which he gave up his membership of the incumbent party in West Bengal on Thursday. Adhikari, who is a political heavyweight in the state and who spearheaded the Nandigram agitation of 2007 for Mamata Banerjee is all set to join the BJP. Many TMC leaders are increasingly realising that the party does not stand a chance in the upcoming all-important assembly polls, and have gauged the direction of political winds. As such, now every day, multiple TMC leaders are calling it quits from the party.
The same was triggered by Suvendu Adhikari’s exit from the party. One would have thought that the TMC would choose a dignified path of losing in the elections. However, the West Bengal Assembly Speaker’s move of refusing to accept the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari has convinced many that the incumbent party is choosing to go down in a mud fest instead. Adhikari was slated to join the BJP today (Saturday).
It is yet to be seen if the Speaker’s refusal to accept his resignation as an MLA brings about a change in such plans. Rejecting the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari as the Nandigram MLA, Speaker Biman Banerjee said, “Norms were not followed while Suvendu tendered his resignation. It is under my examination until and unless the final order is passed, it cannot be constituted that the resignation is accepted or rejected. I will pass a reasoned order in due course”.
Biman Banerjee added, “I have to be satisfied that the resignation is genuine. I had not been informed that it is voluntary and genuine. So, it’s not possible to accept the letter as it is not in the proper form. I have asked Suvendu to appear before me on 21st Dec at 2 pm.”
Of course, it does not take a genius to realise the fact that the resignation of Suvendu Adhikari not being accepted in a time-bound manner, is a classic delaying tactic being employed by the Mamata regime to stall the heavyweight’s grand entry into the saffron fold on Saturday.
If Suvendu Adhikari joins the BJP on Saturday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it would be interesting to see if the TMC administration and Speaker of the house initiate proceedings against him under the anti-defection law.
Earlier, Adhikari, in anticipation of the TMC regime using its brute force against him, had requested the state governor to ensure that false and fabricated cases are not made a ground to implicate him and his supporters.
Mamata Banerjee might be trying to stall a grand entry of Suvendu Adhikari into the BJP. However, it is only a matter of time before she and her nephew perhaps find themselves as the only TMC workers left in a party which previously played an instrumental role in uprooting the Left regime out of the state. By the looks of it, the time has come a full circle, as the BJP gets ready to script the irreversible political downfall of the TMC in West Bengal.