Former JD(U) leader Pavan Varma quits TMC
This development comes two days after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar quit his alliance with the BJP and formed a new government with RJD, Congress and other allies
Trinamool Congress (TMC) vice-president and former Janata Dal (United) lawmaker Pavan K Varma on Friday sent his resignation to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, sparking buzz of his return to the Nitish Kumar-led party.
This development came two days after Bihar chief minister Kumar quit his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and formed a new government with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and other allies.
Varma, a former Rajya Sabha member, tweeted on Friday morning, “Dear @MamataOfficial ji, please accept my resignation from the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. I look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards, Pavan K. Varma,” indicating an amicable separation with West Bengal’s ruling party.
TMC Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said : “Varma came on his own and has left on his own. I cannot say whether this has any link to the changing political equations in Bihar.”
Varma’s exit from the TMC is the second high-profile departure from the party in as many months.
In July, former National Democratic Alliance (NDA) minister Yashwant Sinha, who had contested the presidential election as the Opposition candidate against Droupadi Murmu, resigned from the TMC.
Varma and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were expelled from the JD(U) in 2020 when they vehemently opposed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Varmaalso made public a letter in January 2020 that he wrote to Kumar questioning the decision to contest the Delhi assembly election that year. In the letter, Varma quoted how Kumar was sCeptical about the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Kumar had responded scathingly and asked Varma to go wherever he wanted to.
Later that month, Varma announced his removal from the JD(U) on Twitter. “Thank you Nitish Kumar ji for freeing me from my increasingly untenable position of defending you and your policies. I wish you well in your ambition of being CM of Bihar at any cost,” he wrote.
Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.