Kolkata, December 18: West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday said he cannot accept the resignation of former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Suvendu Adhikari, citing procedural flaws. Addressing a press conference, Biman Banerjee said Suvendu Adhikari's resignation is not in proper format and did not have a date on it. Adhikari has been summoned by the Speaker on December 21. Barrackpore MLA Shilbhadra Dutta Quits TMC.

"I have examined the (resignation) letter and found that the date is not specified in it. I hadn't been informed that his (Suvendu Adhikari) resignation is voluntarily and genuine. So it's not possible to accept it now. I have asked him to appear before me on December 21 at 2 pm," Banerjee said. Adhikari resigned from the state legislative assembly on Wednesday evening. It Would Be Good if Suvendu Adhikari Too Joins BJP: Mihir Goswami.

He submitted a hand-written letter at the secretariat as speaker Biman Banerjee was not present in his office. He resigned from the primary membership of the TMC next day. Earlier, Adhikari had tendered his resignation as minister from the Mamata Banerjee-led state cabinet last month, on November 27. He had also quit the chairperson's post of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioner's two days before that.

Adhikari's exit from the TMC was followed by a spate of resignations by TMC leaders. Along with Adhikari, Jitendra Tiwari also resigned from the party's primary membership. Tiwari also quit the post of chairman of the administrative board of the Asansol Municipal Corporation. He represented Pandabeswar in the state legislative Assembly.

The trend continued on Friday as another legislator from Mamata Banerjee's party from Barrackpore assembly constituency, Silbhadra Dutta, too called it quits. Dutta sent his resignation letter to Trinamool supremo Banerjee. "I am tendering my resignation as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), as well as from all other positions held by me in the party and its associate organisations with immediate effect," he wrote.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2020 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).