Says he is disappointed with the way the party is functioning now

In an obvious setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, veteran party leader and three-time MLA from Baranagar, Tapas Roy resigned from the party and membership of the state assembly.

Asked whether he is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, Roy replied, “I am not going to say anything regarding this”.

Roy was the party’s deputy chief whip in the assembly. Earlier in the day, he had slammed the party’s leadership for its handling of the Sandeshkhali incident.

“I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning now. I am fed-up with so many allegations of corruption levelled against the party and the government. Secondly, I do not support the way the Sandeshkhali issue was handled,” Roy was quoted as saying by news sources. Notably, Roy has been quite vocal about voicing his displeasure over the manner the Sandeshkhali incident was handled by the state government.

Says he did not get his due despite being “a loyal soldier of the party”

Roy, while speaking to media persons, slammed the party leadership for not standing by him when his residence was raided by the Enforcement Directorate in January.

Senior TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Bratya Basu met Roy at his residence this morning in an attempt to pacify him.

Roy has been at loggerheads with Sudip Bandopadhyay, the ruling party’s MP from North Kolkata. “I have been a loyal soldier of the party for the last 25 years. But I did not get my due,” he said.

The Trinamool Congress has come under fire over allegations of sexual exploitation and land-grabbing by party leaders in Sandeshkhali and the prolonged search to arrest alleged local leader and perpetrator of several crimes, Sheikh Shajahan. Despite repeated allegations, Shajahan was on the run for 55 days and was arrested only last week.