Asansol (West Bengal): Strife-torn Trinamool Congress suffered another jolt Thursday with another heavyweight quitting the party. Jitendra Tiwari, MLA sent in his resignation stating he was leaving Trinamool Congress as he is not being allowed to work. Jitendra Tiwari was also the chief of the Asansol Municipal Corporation. He reigned from that position also. He was asked to wait till Friday by party supremo Mamata Banerjee, but Tiwari did not do so.
“I have resigned from the post of the chairman of the Board of Administrators of Asansol Municipal Corporation. If I am not allowed to work, what will I do with the post? So, I resigned,” he told reporters in the afternoon. Hours later, he announced that he has also resigned from the primary membership of the party, giving up the post of district president. “There is no point in continuing in the TMC as I am not being allowed to work for the people,” Tiwari alleged.
However, he has not quit as the MLA of Pandabeswar. Tiwari also hailed the decision of former TMC minister Suvendu Adhikari who quit the party and resigned as an MLA, Wednesday.
Tiwari has been involved in a face-off with West Bengal Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim in the recent past. Training his guns at the minister, Tiwari said, “Sycophants like him are destroying the party.”
Also read: TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari resigns as MLA
Tiwari added: “The best way to save the party is Mamata Banerjee announcing Suvendu Adhikari as her successor. After her, Suvendu is the biggest mass leader in the TMC. If you deny the fact, then your defeat is imminent.
Asked if he would join the BJP, Tiwari said he will not speak about the matter in the press.
The Trinamool Congress called Tiwari a ‘traitor’. “Who was Jitendra Tiwari, till a few years back? Whatever he is today, he is because of the party. Now if he is leaving the party, then he is nothing more than a traitor and a weathercock,” party spokesperson Saugata Roy said.