Dinesh Trivedi's resignation not a shock to TMC: Saugata Roy

Following the resignation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi from Rajya Sabha, party MP Sougata Roy on Friday said the former's decision is not a shock to his party.

Speaking to , Roy said, "This will have no impact as he is not connected to the grassroots and he even lost Lok Sabha election but Mamata Banerjee still sent him to Rajya Sabha. This is not a shock to the party."

Roy said 'Trinamool' means grassroot and "Trivedi's resignation will give us a chance to send a grassroot worker to Rajya Sabha."

The TMC leader also revealed that Trivedi had a meeting with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar to whom he expressed his dissatisfaction but TMC was not expecting the former railway minister to resign from Rajya Sabha.

"I did not know he (Trivedi) would resign as he did not tell the party as well. He expressed dissatisfaction to Sharad Pawar but nobody encouraged him to resign and this decision came all of a sudden. I spoke to him four-five days back and he did not convey that he will take this extreme step," added Roy.

Asked about the trend of recent departures of senior leaders from the TMC, Roy said, "Many people left the party but it does not have any impact on TMC. TMC is not a sinking ship."

Earlier on Friday, Dinesh Trivedi announced his resignation on the floor of the Rajya Sabha citing the reason that he was unable to do anything over the violence in West Bengal.

"I am resigning from Rajya Sabha today. There is violence happening in my state. We cannot speak anything here," said Trivedi.

"Grateful to my party that they have sent me here. I am feeling suffocated that we are not able to do anything over violence in the state. My soul tells me that if you can not do anything sitting here, then you must resign. I will continue to work for the people of West Bengal," he added.

The West Bengal Assembly Elections for 294 seats are scheduled to take place this year. However, the dates of the polls have not yet been announced by the Election Commission.

( With inputs from ANI )