A number of Muslim leaders and workers resigned from the Trinamul Congress in Malda district on Friday in protest against the alleged distribution of nominations for the coming panchayat elections against money.

The deserters include Mohammad Nazrul Islam, who was the district chairman of Trinamul’s minority cell. He had stepped down from the post, along with other office-bearers, last week.

“I was also a district secretary of the party and today, I quit that post and left Trinamul. We had to face questions from Trinamul workers and ordinary voters after tickets for the panchayat elections were distributed against money. We are not ready to take responsibility for the tainted leaders who were involved in such malpractices,” said Islam.

He had contested as the Trinamul candidate in the Mothabari Assembly segment in 2016. He was defeated by Sabina Yeasmin of the Congress. Yeasmin later defected to Trinamul and is now a minister of state.

“She (Yeasmin) had ousted all veteran Trinamul leaders and workers in Mothabari. A couple of former block presidents have left the party. The manner in which she distributed tickets violated what the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had said during his outreach drive. We doubt whether the top brass of Trinamul has any control over these MLAs and district leaders,” said Islam.

Along with him, Trinamul Chhatra Parishad secretary Haider Ali and president of Trinamul’s women’s wing in Kaliachak 2 block Minakshi Mondal left the party. Among the deserters were several imams and muezzins.

“Altogether, around 500 workers and office-bearers resigned from Trinamul today,” claimed Islam.

Muslims make up around 52 per cent of the population in the district.

The deserters hinted that they would soon join the Congress, which still has a base left in Malda.

“Trinamul cannot defeat the BJP at the national level. So, we will join a party that has a national presence and can oust the BJP,” said one of them.

Yeasmin denied the allegation levelled by Islam and said the candidates had been selected from among workers at the grassroots.

“These people (the deserters) had helped the Congress in a clandestine manner in the 2021 Assembly elections. A number of popular faces from the minority community are contesting the rural polls. Their resignation from the party will hardly have any effect on our results,” she said.