4 Bengal ministers skip Mamata's cabinet meet days after Suvendu moves to BJP

Kolkata, Dec 22: In more trouble for Mamata Banerjee, four ministers of the West Bengal government skipped cabinet meeting on Tuesday at the state secretariat.

Though Tourism Minister Gautam Deb, Minister for Fisheries Chandranath Sinha and Minister for North Bengal Development Rabindranath Ghosh cited genuine reasons, the absence of Minister for Forests, Rajib Banerjee seems politically significant as there are strong speculations that he might quit the TMC.

The development is important as the TMC in West Bengal was jolted with a spate of its leaders joining the BJP on a day when Amit Shah visited the state.

The biggest hit for the Trinamool Congress Party was when Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP. Adhikari too stayed away from Cabinet meetings for several months before ultimately quitting the TMC and moving to the BJP.

The others who quit were Bardhaman Purba MP Sunil Kumar Mondal six other MLAs of TMC, one MLA each of CPI, CPM and Congress and several TMC district leaders and councillors.