Congress minister Manoj Chakraborty terms Mamata government as dictatorship

KOLKATA:Congress leader and West Bengal minister Manoj Chakraborty on Tuesday retaliated strongly at the chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who on Monday taken away from him the parliamentary affairs portfolio.

"What is happening in the government can be termed as a total dictatorship and the government lacked any standing or stability. I don't want to bear such insults. Dignity is more important to me and I have sought permission of my party high command to quit this government," Chakraborty told reporters at Writers' Buildings.

Chakraborty also said that he did not understand why he was shifted from the parliamentary affairs portfolio. "If performance is the criterion, then I must say that people of our state has already started raising questions about the chief minister's performance," he said.

Chakraborty on Tuesday faxed his resignation letter to the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, though he has not submitted the same to the chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

"I have also talked to Pranab Mukherjee and Murshidabad Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and sought their permission to quit this government. It is impossible to work with this government. Adhir Da has asked me to quit and Mr Mukherjee has promised me that he will look into my grievances," the Congress minister said.

Mamata has not reacted at Chakraborty's allegation about her. But junior Trinamool ministers have dubbed Chakraborty as "a man with no education and does not know how to talk."

Interestingly, Chakraborty did not spare the Congress minister and former West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Manas Bhunia. "Bhunia is playing a dual role. He often criticises Trinamool Congress ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Partha Chatterjee in closed door meetings, but I saw him coming out from the chief minister's room yesterday with a smiling face. Bhunia, perhaps, wants to continue as a minister," Chakraborty said.