Why did Santanu Sen quit as TMC spokesperson? After Kakoli Dastidar, Mamata’s party rocked by more resignations- The Week

The recent poll debacle in the West Bengal assembly has triggered a domino effect in the Trinamool Congress, which saw fresh resignations on Thursday. The latest high-profile resignation comes from former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen who stepped down as TMC national spokesperson.

Who is Santanu Sen?

Santanu Sen is a doctor-turned-politician and a former Rajya Sabha MP. Currently, he a councillor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. It should be noted that he has not quit Trinamool Congress.

Why did Santanu Sen quit as TMC spokesperson?

In his resignation letter to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Santanu Sen slammed that party over the controversy surrounding the RG Kar rape and murder case, job scams, unethical acts and corruption.

Sen himself was a former student and doctor associated with RG Kar. He was one of the few TMC leaders who publicly pointed out the irregularities at the medical college. After embarrassing the party leadership, TMC suspended him for “anti-party activities” and removed him from the post of spokesperson. However, he was reinstated later.

“Accepting the people’s verdict, I have decided to resign from the post of national spokesperson,” wrote Sen.

He said he is a loyal soldier of Trinamool Congress since the inception of the party, but pointed out that he was no longer comfortable in publicly defending controversies linked to TMC.

“In several difficult situations, even when my conscience did not agree, I fought publicly for the party in television debates and media platforms and had to face criticism from common people,” he wrote. “But now, when people have rejected us over the RG Kar incident, job scam and various unethical acts and corruption, my conscience no longer permits me to support these as a spokesperson.”

Sen made headlines when he congratulated the Suvendu Adhikari government. On Wednesday, he offered to cooperate with any investigation related to the RG Kar rape-murder case.

“I remained silent for a long time because of concerns about my daughter’s career. Now she has become a doctor herself, and I have no more hesitation,” he had said.

Resignations rattle TMC

Before Sen, several other TMC leaders also quit key organisational posts. Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Tuesday resigned from her organisational posts.

TMC councillor Arup Chakraborty on Wednesday quit as a party spokesperson and stepped down from his position in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s public accounts committee.

Sushanta Ghosh, another TMC councillor, quit the post of borough chairman.