TMC leader Mukul Roy resigns as Rajya Sabha MP

Roy had said though the meeting with Vijayvargiya was not scheduled, the BJP leader had asked about his plans.He also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week.

Kolkata, October 11: Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy on Wednesday submitted his resignation as Rajya Sabha MP to Vice President and RS Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.Speculation is rife in political circles about Mukul Roy's next move. Whether will he join the BJP or form a new political party?

"I am not saying I will join the BJP or I will not join (it). Only time will tell. Please wait for a few days," Roy had recently said.

His supporters said like Himanta Biswa Sarma, who left the ruling Congress in Assam to join the BJP, which came to power in the 2016 state polls, Roy would defeat the TMC in Bengal in the coming days.

However, his detractors believed that without Mamata Banerjee, he would be a spent force.

"His political career is going to plunge and will soon cease to exist. His attempts to please the BJP will not bear any results," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee had stated.

On Monday, Rajya Sabha MP Roy had said, "Finally, I am going to hand over my resignation to the Vice President on October 11 and then I will tell the people of this country why I decided to end my long political innings with the TMC, the party I founded with many others."

He met the BJP's West Bengal BJP in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya at the residence of Rajya Sabha House Committee chairperson Om Mathur on Monday.

Roy had said though the meeting with Vijayvargiya was not scheduled, the BJP leader had asked about his plans.He also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week.

The TMC had accused him of hobnobbing with the BJP. Once the second-in-command in the TMC after Chief Minister Banerjee, Roy was suspended for six years for "anti-party activities" last month.

PTI