Bengal: Former minister Jyotipriya Mallick quits TMC posts, party’s Siliguri mayor resigns

Former West Bengal minister Jyotipriya Mallick resigned from his posts in the Trinamool Congress citing health concerns, PTI reported on Friday.

Mallick said that his health had deteriorated severely in the past few months and that it would be “impossible to shoulder responsibilities in the party working committee and other positions”.

Since losing the Assembly elections in May, the TMC has been facing rebellions and internal divisions.

Amid the divisions and defections, the TMC had on June 3 dissolved all its committees and organisational units in the state, saying it would undertake a “comprehensive” review of its performance and party structure.

Mallick, a five-term MLA, resigned days after TMC chief Mamata Banerjee inducted him into the party’s reconstituted working committee, PTI reported.

On Friday, the news agency quoted Mallick as saying that he has “no disillusionment” with Mamata Banerjee. “Those who have revolted against her are experienced leaders, and they must have their reasons for doing it,” he said.

He represented the Gaighata constituency between 2001 and 2011, followed by Habra. He lost the Habra seat to a BJP candidate in May.

He had served as the state food and supplies minister between 2011 and 2021. He was the forest minister from 2021 to 2024.

In October 2023, Mallick was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged...

Read more