Who is Tapas Roy & why did veteran TMC leader resign as MLA?

TMC leader Tapas Roy.

Weeks after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided his residence, senior TMC MLA Tapas Roy resigned from all positions on Monday expressing displeasure over the functioning of the party.

“I have submitted my resignation as an MLA to the assembly speaker. I am now a free bird,” he said.

Who is Tapas Roy?

The Trinamool Congress leader was first elected as MLA on the Congress ticket in 1996 from the Vidyasagar Assembly constituency. Roy won the 2001 Assembly elections on a TMC ticket from Bara Bazar. He moved to Baranagar Assembly constituency in North 24 Paraganas district in 2011 and has been a TMC legislator from the seat since then.

Roy was also the deputy chief whip of TMC in the current Assembly.

Why Tapas Roy resigned

Tapas Roy said he was fed up with the numerous corruption allegations against the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government.

He also raised concerns over the way the controversy around Sandeshkhali village was handled.

“I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning. 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,” he told reporters.

Roy also slammed the TMC leadership for not standing by him when the ED raided his BB Ganguly Street residence in central Kolkata in January in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments.

“I have been a loyal soldier of the party for the last 25 years. But I did not get my due,” he said.

Senior TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Bratya Basu met Roy at his residence this morning to pacify him but failed.

Reports suggest that Roy has been at loggerheads with TMC MP from North Kolkata, Sudip Bandopadhyay.

(With PTI inputs)

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