Suvendu Adhikari on Friday resigned from the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, gave up his Z-category security and vacated his government accommodation, signalling a phased termination of ties with the Trinamul Congress.

The 49-year-old Nandigram MLA, who had played a key role in the anti-land-acquisition movement, has been distancing himself from the party and the government for the past few months.

His resignation from the ministry has been accepted. He was the minister in charge of the departments of transport; irrigation and waterways; and water resources investigation and development.

Adhikari remained silent on his next course of action although some of his aides claimed that an arrangement with the BJP was just a matter of time.

A source close to the chief minister said the party had decided to “ignore” the Adhikari issue. “Didi will first hold a virtual rally for party workers on December 4.… Then a series of programmes will start from December 7 as she has decided to hit the streets,” the source said.

Although Adhikari has not resigned from the party or from the Assembly and some Trinamul leaders said efforts were still on to mend ties, several party insiders said that a rapprochement was impossible.

“Didi has factored it in that he is no longer with us. On paper, there will be some efforts to retain him, but that’s not going to change the situation,” a source said.

That the ruling party is charting a course without Adhikari became clear with Mamata meeting trusted lieutenants like Subrata Bakshi, Firhad Hakim and Partha Chatterjee at her home on Friday evening.

Party sources said the Trinamul leadership would seek to send out a message that a few desertions cannot cripple the party. Some Adhikari loyalists said he would have an impact in 60 to 70 Assembly seats. But sources close to Mamata said the impact would not extend beyond 20 to 25 seats.

With Trinamul appearing to be on the back foot, at least for the time being, the glee in the saffron camp could not be missed. Senior state BJP leaders wasted no time inviting Adhikari to join the party.

But speculation is rife whether Adhikari might instead float his own political platform.

On whether his desertion would trigger an exodus, the majority view till Friday evening was that several Trinamul leaders were likely to follow Adhikari.

“A lot will depend on how Didi handles the situation in the next few days,” a source said.