A day after he was stripped of two ministerial portfolios, Congress minister Manoj Chakraborty lashed out against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, terming her decision as dictatorial.
On Monday evening, Mr Chakraborty was divested of both parliamentary affairs department and micro and small-scale enterprises and textile departments. As a consolation prize, he was given food processing and horticulture department. But on Tuesday he made it clear that he was not interested. “I do not want to remain in this government even for a moment. I have already prepared my resignation letter. As soon as I get the green signal from the party high command, I will just put the date on it and send it to her,” an agitated Mr Chakraborty said at the Writers’ Buildings, flaunting the resignation letter.
In the evening, the peeved minister even sent a fax to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, seeking her permission to resign from the council of ministers. “Today is my last day at the Writers’ Buildings,” he quipped in the evening.
Meanwhile, taking cognisance of the developments in Kolkata, the central leadership of the Congress on Tuesday sent out a message to Ms Banerjee from the national capital that the coalition dharma does not permit “unilateralism”. But at the same time the AICC also sang the tune of restraint and reconciliation expressing confidence that things could be sorted out through talks with Trinamul Congress.
“As far as West Bengal is concerned, I think restraint and deep exchange of views and interaction is required. I don’t think hot words or sharp exchanges will help,” party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said in New Delhi.
Mr Chakraborty accused Ms Banerjee of pursuing vindictive politics. “My portfolios have been taken back in only four months while my performance had been matchless. In fact, people are raising questions about the chief minister’s performance,” Mr Chakraborty said.
He disclosed that he had spoken to Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and the party high command requesting them to allow him to quit and select some other Congress leader for the job.