At least a dozen gram panchayat and panchayat samiti functionaries of Trinamul working on the sly for the saffron camp in East Midnapore, against whom Trinamul had moved no-confidence motion, resigned from their posts following the debacle of the BJP in the Assembly polls.
Sources said after Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP, around a dozen of Trinamul functionaries of several party-run gram panchayat and panchayat samitis had started to sabotage the prospects of the Trinamul by working hand in gloves with the saffron camp.
Trinamul had show caused many of them and moved no-confidence motions against several chief of panchayat samitis and gram panchayats in the run up to the polls. However, those functionaries stuck to their posts and resigned only after the BJP lost the polls.
“They thought that BJP would come to power and take over the rural bodies. But after the party lost in many areas of the district, the leaders considered close to the Suvendu camp began to resign,” said a senior Trinamul leader.
Dibakar Jana, the chief of Shahid Matangini Panchayat Samity is one of those against whom no confidence motion had been moved.
Sources close to Jana said he resigned from his post on Wednesday as most of the members who assured to support him before the polls did a U-turn after the BJP lost the Tamluk Assembly seat under which the panchayat samity falls.
“As a section of members brought a no-confidence motion against me, I thought it is better to resign,” Jana said without explaining why he took the decision after the polls.
Like Jana, the chief of Kumorchak gram panchayat in Nandakumar Basudeb Mantri and Pratappur-II gram panchayat chief Shankar Samanta have also put down their papers in view of the no confidence motion.
“We marked out the betrayers in the party and moved no confidence motion against them. It is good that they have resigned,” said Mamud Hossain, the Trinamul district coordinator.
BJP’s president in Tamluk organisational district, Nabarun Nayek, however, said they had invited all who are with Trinamul to join hands for a better Bengal.
“We have won seven of the 16 seats in East Midnapore this time. We consider it as our success as earlier the party did not have any seat in the district. We will work for better results in the next elections. We have asked many local level Trinamul leaders and panchayat functionaries to join us if they wish,” Nayek added.
