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Bengal

TMC's Dinesh Trivedi resigns as MP; party calls him 'ungrateful', BJP says he's welcome

Kolkata: Stressing that the exit of Dinesh Trivedi — who resigned as an MP from Rajya Sabha on Friday and is known to have jumped ships in the past as well — won't affect the fortunes of Bengal's ruling party, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders said it was good that 'ungrateful leaders' were quitting. While taking part in a discussion of the Union Budget, Trivedi criticised TMC and submitted his resignation. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that he will join the BJP. Trivedi's resignation came as a shock to the other members of the House as the MP hadn't discussed his decision with his party members.

Trivedi, a former Railway minister and two-time Lok Sabha MP was sent to the Rajya Sabha last year by TMC after losing the parliamentary polls in 2019. Switching over to different political parties is Trivedi's old habit. He joined Congress in the 1980s and then switched over to Janata Dal in 1990. He joined TMC in 1998. From 1990-96, he was a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat as a Janata Dal candidate. Again from 2002 to 2008, he was a Rajya Sabha member as a TMC candidate.

He defeated CPI(M) heavy-weight Tarit Topdar from Barrackpore in 2009 and became a Lok Sabha member.

He was elected from Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat for the second time in 2014. He lost to Arjun Singh of the BJP in 2019. TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee sent him to the Rajya Sabha.

Reacting to the development, TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said Trivedi is "ungrateful".

"For many years, he (Trivedi) did not say anything. Now, all of a sudden just months before the state Assembly polls he has complaints. This shows his true colours. He is ungrateful and has betrayed the trust of the masses,"

Roy said.

In the Rajya Sabha, Trivedi alleged that the party had become "suffocating" and he was not being "allowed to work". Responding to the defector's statement,

Roy said: "We really do not know how many times he will feel suffocated. Quicker the traitors leave, the better it will be for the

party."

Veteran TMC leader and Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy said: "It is unfortunate. He did not discuss the matter with the party."

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said: "It is good that such ungrateful people are leaving the party. About a week ago at a webinar, he told us that he would look after the Barrackpore region. He was a Kolkata-based leader and never went to the districts. To work for the party, one has to show interest."

Echoing him, Saugata said: "People like Trivedi enjoy power during their tenure and leave at the time of elections. If he had grievances, he could have aired it within the party."

Meanwhile, BJP MP from Kharagpur and party's state president Dilip Ghosh has welcomed the move and said: "We will welcome him if he wants to join our party."

Kailash Vijayvargiya said Trivedi had expressed his willingness to leave TMC a year ago.

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