Kolkata: A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brief Kolkata visit, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee received yet another blow as one more rebel Trinamul Congress minister, Rajib Banerjee, quit her government, fuelling speculation of his defection to the BJP.
Within hours of Rajib’s move, the TMC expelled his loyalist and the daughter of former ICC chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, Baishali Dalmiya, from the party, accusing her of “anti-party activities” after she supported him and slammed the party leadership. Rajib and Dalmiya are MLAs from Howrah district.
Rajib is a two-time legislator from Domjur with a clean image. He is the third TMC heavyweight minister to leave Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet in less than two months.
He tendered his resignation after he visited the Trinamul Congress supremo’s residence in Kalighat. After that he met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan on Friday and submitted his resignation letter which stated: “I regret to inform you that…