Trinamul MP from Jadavpur, Mimi Chakraborty, submitted her resignation as a Member of Parliament to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday and conveyed her intention to withdraw from all political engagements.
“I have informed Didi about the obstacles I encountered while providing service to people. She listened patiently and I hope she will take a decision soon,” the popular Bengali movie star said after emerging from her almost-hour long meeting with Mamata at the Assembly on Thursday.
“I have never said or done anything without the permission of the party (Trinamul). It was my duty to inform the party (about my decision),” Mimi added, and said the final decision was pending with party supremo Mamata.
Trinamul sources indicated that the party was unwilling to nominate Mimi for another term.
A Trinamul leader said: “There are complaints from the local leadership and her attendance in Parliament is also very poor.”
Parliamentary records reveal Mimi’s minimal engagement in legislative activities. In terms of attendance, where the national average for MPs stands at 79 per cent and Bengal MPs at 66 per cent, Mimi’s is notably low at 21 per cent.
Mimi engaged in only seven debates when the national average is 46.7 and for Bengal MPs it is 34.5.
Over the last five years, Mimi has posed 160 questions, trailing behind the national MP average of 210 questions.
Mimi, who defeated BJP’s Anupam Hazra in 2019 to represent Jadavpur in the Lok Sabha , however, said, “My attendance in the Lok Sabha has become a point of discussion. If I stay in Delhi, people will say why I am not in my constituency. If I am absent in Parliament to stay with the people, then also I’ll be criticised.”
“I have never been a politician but Didi gave me a chance to work for the people and I have done that to the best of my ability. I have reached out to people during Amphan and given relief with my funds,” she added. “If you do politics you have the licence to abuse but I can’t abuse anyone.”
Asked why she didn’t submit her resignation directly to the Lok Sabha Speaker, she said: “The party nominated me.... I have to inform the leader of my party first....”
