A third Rajya Sabha member of the crisis-hit Trinamool Congress (TMC) resigned on Thursday, a day after Sushmita Dev resigned from the Upper House, amid the party’s attempts to salvage the situation.
The TMC has been putting out fires since it lost power in West Bengal last month after a 15-year rule. It expelled two of its 78 state legislators before 57 of them rebelled and supported Ritabrata Banerjee as leader of the opposition in the assembly. At least 16 TMC Lok Sabha members rebelled and met West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
On Thursday, Prakash Shek Barak became the third of TMC’s 13 Rajya Sabha members to resign. Barak submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan. On Monday, TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Rai resigned from the Rajya Sabha.
Derek O’Brien, leader of the TMC Rajya Sabha floor, said they had tried to reach out to every lawmaker, including Barack, fearing resignations. People familiar with the matter said that Barak cited the illness of a family member for not being present before the leadership of the Transitional Military Council.
There is little clarity on the names of the TMC legislators who signed a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for a separate seating area for their block.
TMC Secretary General Abhishek Banerjee met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to explore possibilities of deepening ties in the second such meeting in two days. The Transitional Military Council rejected speculation that the two sides were discussing a merger.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The TMC leadership is expected to meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The TMC did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress Party in West Bengal, something it has avoided since 2012. The TMC came to power in 2011 in alliance with the Congress Party.
