Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy quits as Rajya Sabha MP, tenders resignation to Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy on Wednesday tendered his resignation as Rajya Sabha member on Wednesday.

Roy submitted his resignation to Vice President and Upper House Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.

Addressing the press after submitting his resignation, Roy said, "A party should have certain principles. Sometimes Trinamool Congress is with the BJP, sometimes they are with the Congress," adding that "We were very much a part of the NDA government once and joined hands with the BJP. Now the party thinks that the country cannot go ahead without the Congress. These things compelled me to leave the party with a heavy heart."

Speculation is rife in political circles on whether Roy, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha, will join the BJP or form a new political outfit.

Notably, in the recent past, Roy has met over the past few days BJP heavyweights including Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and its National General Secretary and West Bengal in charge Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Once the second-in-command in the TMC after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Roy was suspended for six years for "anti-party activities" in September.

The TMC had accused him of hobnobbing with the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool launched a scathing attack on its erstwhile national General Secretary and Vice President.

Accusing Roy of betraying the party, Trinamool Secretary General Partha Chatterjee claimed without party supremo Mamata Banerjee's support, Roy's political career would be in oblivion.

"He is now trying to weigh his options. He will be lost into the sea. If he quits tomorrow, no one would enquire about him. If he was intelligent, he would not have taken such a decision to betray the party," he alleged.