Bengal CPI-M's legislative party whip resigns

Kolkata, June 8 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MLA and legislative party whip Abdur Rezzak Mollah Friday said he had resigned from the post of whip for 'health reasons'. He said he had sent his resignation letter to state party secretary Biman Bose.

"Yes, I have sent my resignation letter to state secretary Biman Bose. But I am yet to receive any reply. I don't want to continue as whip of the legislative party. There are two reasons behind it. First, I am not well and secondly, the state assembly is very far away from my home so it is not possible for me to visit the assembly everyday," Mollah told IANS.

The veteran Communist, who was land reforms minister during the Left regime, is known as a 'loose cannon' in the political circles of the state for his out-of-turn remarks against a section of the party leadership, especially former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former industries minister Nirupam Sen.

During his tenure as land reforms minister, he had openly protested against the procedure of land acquisition in the Singur area of Hooghly district for the Tatas' Nano car plant.

After the humiliating defeat of the Left Front in last year's assembly polls, Mollah had blamed Bhattacharjee for the debacle.

When asked whether his decision to resign from the post of the party whip was driven by his anger against the party, Mollah said: "Why should I be angry with my party? I love my party. But it is true that I have grievances against a section of the party leadership for their activities."