Mukul mellow on Mamata - Leader quits TMC with 'heavy heart'

TT, Oct. 11: Mukul Roy today said he was ending his 19-year association with the Trinamul Congress with "a heavy heart and heavy pain" but stopped short of directly attacking party chief Mamata Banerjee.

Roy who quit from Rajya Sabha today dropped broad hints at new political innings with the BJP. The former railway minister said he would take leave from politics for a few days and decide on his future after Diwali.

Roy's departure didn't come as a surprise as he had been indicating it for nearly a month. Although he had promised to elaborate on his plans after explaining his reasons for quitting the party, he hardly said anything that he hasn't already said, some of which led to his six-year suspension. He stuck to theoretical criticism of dynastic politics, single leader-based parties and the ethics of choosing political bedfellows.

"Citing the good of the nation or so-called secularism, sometimes Trinamul is with the BJP, sometimes with the Congress. The party was formed to fight the Congress rule. If we now think that the country cannot survive without the Congress, the two parties should merge," said Roy.

While criticising dynastic politics, Roy was asked about the controversy over BJP chief Amit Shah's son's company prospering after the party came to power. "His son is not in the party," Roy said, betraying his inclination to the BJP.

He also criticised the structure in Trinamul. "In a party, all are comrades and not servants. The manner in which the party is run made me feel so."

Roy said he was in touch with leaders of almost all prominent political parties.

Earlier in the day, he tendered his resignation from the Rajya Sabha to Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu. "With heavy heart and heavy pain, I am compelled to submit my resignation from Rajya Sabha and also from all posts of Trinamul as a primary member," he said.

Even as he parted ways with Trinamul, the erstwhile de facto number two of the party - accused of involvement in the Saradha deposit-mobilisation default and Narada payoffs cases - did not attack Mamata on alleged corruption charges. "She had no prior knowledge of scams," he said.

Observers said by being soft on Mamata and refraining from attacking her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the 63-year-old left the U-turn door ajar. "He did something quite similar in 2015, although not on such a large scale. There is no scope for surprise if he returns to Trinamul in future," said a Calcutta-based political scientist.

Besides, as some pointed out, Roy's move could have been primarily motivated by his survival instinct, as he did not want persecution in the hands of the state machinery.

"He was the number two of the ruling party for years. He used to handle the civil and police administration personally and knows very well how the CID could be used to make his life hell," said Biswanath Chakraborty, a professor of political science at the Rabindra Bharati University.

Asked about the future of his son, Trinamul's Bijpur MLA Subhranshu Roy, Roy cited the example of BJP veteran Yashwant Sinha, who recently criticised the Centre's economic policies, while his son stayed in the Narendra Modi cabinet.