Mukul Roy departs from Trinamool Congress

By Nimesh Bansal 

Mukul Roy, who helped set up the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with Mamata Banerjee, has ended his 20-year association with the party. The resignation was a long time coming as the relations between the TMC and its founding member had gone sour long ago.

Reasons for exit

The rise of Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, as Trinamool Congress’s next-gen leader did not go down well with Mukul Roy. Relations hit a new low when Roy’s name came up in the 2015 Saradha Chit Fund Scam. After Roy appeared before the CBI for questioning in connection with the scam, he was removed as the party’s general secretary. He had then been suspended by the party altogether for a period of six years for ‘anti-party activities’ after he announced on September 25 that he would resign from the TMC.

Party’s response

The party’s incumbent general secretary, Parth Chatterjee, welcomed the resignation terming it as ‘good riddance’. He said, “Whatever he is saying holds no importance to us. He is saying baseless things after becoming a faceless person. It is a good riddance. Now we can sleep peacefully at night. The party is relieved of the young boy from Kanchrapara.” Commenting on reports in the media that Mukul Roy resigned from the TMC in order to join the BJP, Chatterjee launched an attack on Roy, “Since the day CBI started questioning him, he had understood that only BJP can save him. As a result, he was in touch with BJP leaders for last few years without getting instructions from the party. Every day he is holding meetings with them. No TMC leader has done what he did till now. Despite his actions, Mamata Banerjee had given him another chance to rectify his mistakes in 2015. But he did not do it. He has surrendered before CBI and is asking BJP to induct him into the party. He is pursuing petty politics.”

In his final press conference as a TMC member, Mukul Roy alluded to ‘dynastic politics’ as one of the main reasons behind his exit from the party. He added that such political practices are not good for India. Parth Chatterjee responded to Roy’s remark saying, “It is not a crime to pursue politics if a member of your family is already in politics. Dynasty politics is everywhere. It does not behove him to speak on dynasty politics as his son is also a politician and TMC MLA.”

Aftermath of Roy’s departure

Some TMC leaders, however, have come out in praise of Roy’s contributions to the Trinamool Congress. A TMC leader who wished to remain anonymous said, “Apart from micro-managing the organisation, he was in charge of the party’s expansion within and outside Bengal. His motto was victory at any cost.”

In the aftermath of Mukul Roy’s resignation, party chief Mamata Banerjee has convened an extended core committee meeting on October 27 at Nazrul Mancha. Around 3,000 party leaders will attend the meeting, including MPs, MLAs, district presidents, block presidents, municipality chairmen, panchayat pradhans, and other leaders.

20 years in the making, Mukul Roy has parted company with Trinamool Congress, and his party could not be happier.

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