In what is being perceived as yet another blow to Bengal's ruling party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), former cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla on Tuesday tendered his resignation from Mamata Banerjee's cabinet.
He was the junior minister for sports and youth affairs.
Shukla, who was also the Howrah district unit president of the TMC, has resigned from that post as well.
Sources at the state secretariat said Shukla's resignation from the cabinet had been accepted.
However, Shukla has not resigned from the membership of the state Assembly. He is yet to give up the party's primary membership.
Shukla had kept himself aloof from the party's activities over the past couple of months. According to a senior TMC leader from Howrah district, Shukla found it difficult to get along with Arup Roy, another senior TMC leader from the district and a TMC veteran.
Advertisement
Shukla had joined politics in 2016 and got elected from Howrah north.
While there are speculations that this resignation might be his first step towards joining the TMC's principal rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), people close to Shukla said he wanted to "take a break from politics" before deciding on his future moves.
A few days ago, Shukla was seen at the campus of Cricket Association of Bengal, headed by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, after a long time. That visit had triggered speculations if Shukla was planning to enter the cricket administration.
To enter cricket administration, he had to let go of his ministerial portfolio and political affiliation, as per the recommendations of the committee header by RM Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India.
Advertisement
Notably, infighting in the TMC in Howrah district has been causing the party a great deal of trouble over the past few months, with another influential minister from the party, Rajib Banerjee, publicly making statements critical of the party and giving a miss to cabinet meetings.
The TMC's state leadership is continuing a dialogue with Banerjee but is unsure whether the talks would fructify.
No comments from Shukla were available till the filing of this report.
