Ex-councillor Nantu Paul sticks to word, quits Trinamul Congress

For the past few days, he had been vocal about his disappointment over the party's decision to field Omprakash Mishra from Siliguri

A poster in support of Nantu Paul in Siliguri.: Passang Yolmo

Bireswar Banerjee   |   TT   |   Siliguri   |  10.03.21  : Nantu Paul, the dissident Trinamul leader who had threatened to quit the party on not getting the party ticket from the Siliguri Assembly seat, stuck to his stand despite efforts from his colleagues to make him stay.

Paul, a popular political face in the city, on Tuesday resigned from Trinamul and stepped down from his official posts.

For the past few days, Paul had been vocal about his disappointment over Trinamul’s decision to field Omprakash Mishra from Siliguri.

He repeatedly said that the party should have selected a local leader as the candidate and that he would stand as an Independent from Siliguri.

“I will contest the elections as an Independent,” he said on Sunday, when Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee was in the town for a mega rally against LPG price hike.

On Tuesday afternoon, Paul reached the office of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) here and resigned as SJDA vice-chairman. Earlier, he went to the Kanchenjunga Stadium and resigned as vice-chairman of North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games.

“I have resigned from all official posts. Also, I have sent a letter to the district president of Trinamul and have resigned from the primary membership of the party,” he said.

A number of posters were put in across the city in his support later in the day.

The posters, under the banner of Siliguri Unnayan Samiti with his photograph, said the samiti stood by him.

Ranjan Sarkar, the Darjeeling (plains) district Trinamul president, said he hadn’t received Paul’s letter of resignation. “He is a senior leader and I have asked him to reconsider his decision,” said Sarkar.

In another development, Lalit Pramanik, a former deputy chief of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad, left Trinamul for the BJP. Pramanik, based in Mathabhanga of the district, said old-timers like him were being ignored in Trinamul.

(https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/ex-councillor-nantu-paul-sticks-to-word-quits-trinamul-congress/cid/1809057)