Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) After resigning from the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Prakash Chik Baraik has also quit the primary membership of the Trinamool Congress.

“The recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections had given a specific mandate. So as a mark of respect to that specific mandate, I decided to resign from the Rajya Sabha. At the same time, I have also decided to quit the Trinamool Congress. In the coming days, I will be working as per the instructions of the Chief Minister,” Baraik told a section of the media persons after tendering his resignation from the Upper House of Parliament.

Baraik is the third Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member who has simultaneously resigned from the Upper House and from the primary membership of the party in the last four days. The first was Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and the second was Sushmita Dev.

Baraik’s post-resignation statement of working “as per the instructions of the Chief Minister”, clearly hinting at Suvendu Adhikari, has triggered speculations of his joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.

With the resignation of Baraik, Trinamool Congress’ strength in the Rajya Sabha has declined from 13 to 10. This means that on one hand, while the majority of the Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha members have already turned rebel, the party’s strength in the Upper House is also declining with every passing day.

Already, in the West Bengal Assembly, a new but majority bloc in Trinamool Congress’ legislative party, comprising 60 out of 80 party legislators, has obtained the status of the principal opposition in the state with the rebel-cum-expelled leader, Ritabrata Banerjee, being accepted as the Leader of Opposition.

Now, with simultaneous developments in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the question is whether the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, also the party’s general secretary, will at all be able to retain control over the party leadership.

–IANS

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