Kolkata, March 24 (IANS) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday night resigned from different “office of profit” posts that she had been holding as of now amid the crucial two-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled next month.
Mamata Banerjee is a Trinamool Congress candidate from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata.
Based on the resignation of the Chief Minister from these “office-of-profit” posts, the state administration, which is currently under the direct authority of the Election Commission of India (ECI), with the model code of conduct being in force, initiated all necessary steps to implement the resignations at the earliest, said an insider from the state secretariat, Nabanna.
“The Chief Minister resigned from various posts with immediate effect, and the departments concerned have been asked to complete the process of accepting his resignation at the earliest. Her resignation will be acceptable both for the listed posts and also for the posts that she is holding in any organisation or committee beyond that. The departments concerned have also been instructed to submit a report on the matter within a specified time frame,” the insider from the state secretariat added.
It is learnt that the state government departments where the Chief Minister had been holding the “office of profit” posts and where she had resigned include environment, forest, health, and minority affairs, among others.
Apart from that, she also resigned from the “office of profit” posts that she had been holding so far in organisations like the West Bengal Disaster Management Authority and West Bengal Public Policy and Planning Board, among others.
“The Chief Minister took the decision to resign from these posts to send a message of transparency, though there is no official binding on her to do so,” said a senior leader of Trinamool Congress and also a member of the state cabinet.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, against the Chief Minister from Bhabanipur.
Adhikari is also contesting from the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore, where he is already a sitting and two-time legislator.
–IANS
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