KOLKATA/JALPAIGURI: Signs of discontent surfaced within the TMC as Rajganj MLA Khageswar Roy resigned from the Jalpaiguri district party post after being denied a ticket from the constituency in the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls.
Roy, a three-time MLA from Rajganj in Jalpaiguri and a long-time organiser of the TMC in north Bengal, predicted a defeat for the party in the constituency after Asian Games gold medallist Swapna Barman was fielded from the seat.
He stepped down as the chairman of the Jalpaiguri district TMC shortly after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the candidate list on Tuesday.
Expressing resentment over being denied the ticket, Roy alleged that "money power" had influenced the decision.
"I have been with Mamata Banerjee since the time she left the Congress and formed the TMC. Today I have been defeated by money. Someone must have given money, and that is why my name was dropped," Roy told reporters after announcing his resignation.
The sitting MLA claimed that a person who has "never worked for the TMC" has been made the candidate in the constituency.
Roy said he had built the party organisation in Rajganj over the years and that denying him a ticket was an "injustice".
"I have resigned from the party post because of the injustice meted out to me. The Trinamool Congress will lose the Rajganj seat," he said.
However, Roy said he had not yet decided whether he would join another political party.
"I have sent a letter to the party. Let us see what decision the leadership takes," Roy said.
Barman, a native of Jalpaiguri district, who won the heptathlon gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, had been formally welcomed into the TMC earlier this year when state ministers Bratya Basu and Chandrima Bhattacharya handed over the party flag to her at a programme in February.
The athlete, who had earlier indicated that injuries had forced her to step away from competitive sport, is currently employed with the Railways.
In January, Banerjee had also felicitated Barman during a foundation-laying ceremony at the Mahakal temple in Siliguri.
Attempts to contact the Jalpaiguri district TMC leadership for its response to Roy's resignation were unsuccessful.