In a big political development, which is expected to send ripples across West Bengal politics, the Trinamool Congress on Friday removed MP Mukul Roy from the parliamentary party chairman’s post.
The drastic step was taken by the TMC amid speculation of a rift between Roy and West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee. Roy was once considered to be second-in-command of Trinamool.
Lately, Banerjee had clipped Roy’s wings by appointing party MP Subrata Bakshi, additional all India general secretary, in an organisational reshuffle on February 14.
Roy, a former railway minister, has seemingly fallen out with Banerjee after his interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the multi-crore rupee Saradha ponzi scam.
A founding member of the Trinamool, he has distanced himself from the party and shied away from attacking the BJP over the past few weeks. Credited as the architect of Trinamool’s stunning electoral victories in recent years, Roy played a minor role in Friday’s by-poll to Bongaon Lok Sabha and Krishnaganj Assembly constituencies.