Akhil Giri resigns from ministership following party’s directions

Kolkata: State Cabinet minister Akhil Giri, who is also the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from Ramnagar, submitted his resignation on Sunday following the directions of his party which also asked him to apologise to a female forest officer for his disrespectful comments.

A video that went viral on social media on Saturday purportedly showed the Correctional Administration minister Giri threatening a woman officer of the forest department.

“Our party president and Rajya Sabha MP Subrata Bakshi called up Akhil Giri and directed him to apologise to the female forest officer over his disrespectful comments and also tender his resignation immediately,” said Santanu Sen, TMC national spokesperson. He added that the party had stated time and again that it does not endorse such behaviour of Giri.

“This step bears testimony to the fact that Trinamool Congress strictly follows ‘rajdharma’. The BJP, whose leaders time and again make distasteful comments against women, will never be able to do the same,” he added. State Forest minister Birbaha Hansda had spoken with the female officer after the incident and reported the matter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is also the chairperson of the party. According to party insiders, Banerjee took strong objections to Giri’s behaviour.

Giri, on Sunday, regretted using such words against the woman forest officer. “The words that I uttered in the heat of the moment were not appropriate. I should not have uttered those words towards a government official,” he told media persons in the afternoon. However, the minister claimed that the woman forest ranger’s way of speaking was not appropriate.

Giri had earlier hit the national headlines for making derogatory comments concerning the looks of President Droupadi Murmu.

State BJP leader and a Calcutta High Court advocate, Koustav Bagchi forwarded a communique to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, requesting the latter to initiate the removal of Giri from his ministerial chair.

In the video, the minister was seen threatening the forest officer using abusive language, “You are a government employee, bow down your head (in front of me) while speaking. See what happens to you within a week… Mend your ways.

You will see what happens when people beat you with sticks.” Giri was heard alleging that following instructions from the woman officer, the forest department staff demolished shops of local people late in the night when it was raining heavily. The officer was heard questioning Giri as to how she could be removed for doing her duty.