After Suvendu Adhikari, TMC MLA Jitendra Tiwari quits party

Delivering a double whammy to the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, two Trinamool Congress MLAs, Suvendu Adhikari and Jitendra Tiwari, quit the party on Thursday (December 17).

Adhikari’s resignation from the primary membership of the party came a day after he quit as an MLA in the West Bengal Assembly.

The former state transport, irrigation and waterways minister, who was once close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is expected to join the BJP during Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal.

Related news: Suvendu, face of Nandigram protest resigns as TMC MLA, may join BJP

Adhikari resigned from the state cabinet and as the chairman of Hoogly Commission last month, disgruntled over the increasing clout of Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek in the party.

Adhikari, who played a pivotal role in the Nandigram protest is said to have influence over more than 50 seats in western part of the state.

Soon after his resignation as an MLA on Wednesday, Adhikari huddled with other rebel TMC MLAs, hinting at a possible event of more resignations in the party, ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in 2021.

Before resigning from the party, Tiwari had stepped down as the chief of the Asansol Municipal Corporation, alleging that he was not allowed to work. He had recently called out the state government for not allocating central funds to Asansol under the smart city project.