Kolkata: In another setback to the Trinamool Congress, Rajya Sabha member Prakash Chik Baraik resigned from the Upper House of Parliament on Thursday.
The resignation, dated June 11, was submitted to the Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan in the morning.
Baraik is the third Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member to resign from the Upper House of Parliament during the current week or in the last four days.
First, on June 8, veteran party leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned from Rajya Sabha and from the primary membership of Trinamool Congress, claiming his decision was prompted by his desire to accept the verdict of the people of West Bengal in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Next, on June 10, the party Rajya Sabha member, Sushmita Dev, resigned from both the Upper House and the party’s primary membership. There is a high possibility of her joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since immediately after her resignation on Wednesday, she met with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Delhi.
However, in the case of Baraik, though he has resigned from the Rajya Sabha, it is not yet clear whether he has already resigned or will resign from the primary membership of Trinamool Congress.
At the time the report was filed, he had not commented on the reasons that prompted him to resign from the Rajya Sabha or whether he would also resign from the primary membership of Trinamool Congress.
Baraik was always known as a close confidant of the Trinamool Congress general secretary and party Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee. He became a Rajya Sabha member in 2023.
Before the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, there were also discussions within the party whether Baraik could be fielded as a party candidate from any Assembly constituency in North Bengal. However, that possibility did not fructify.
Baraik’s resignation comes at a time when the Trinamool Congress is facing potential disintegration in both the Assembly and Parliament, raising concerns about whether the party’s leadership will continue to be held by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
(IANS)
