Kolkata: Peeved over being divested of two of
the three departments in his ministry in a cabinet reshuffle,
Minister of State Manoj Chakrborty on Tuesday threatened to resign
from the Mamata Banerjee government and accused it of
functioning in a "dictatorial manner".
"I have contacted the Congress high command, Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Murshidabad district Congress
chief Adhir Chowdhury and requested them to allow me to quit
the ministry," Chakraborty told reporters here.
Though there was no official notification so far about the
reshuffle of departments effected by the chief minister
yesterday, Chakraborty was learnt to have been stripped of
small scale enterprise and parliamentary affairs portfolios
and instead asked to work as minister of state for food
processing.
Slamming the chief minister, Chakraborty said, "People
have been questioning her own performance. I have been removed
from the two departments by the chief minister who wanted to
take revenge on me.
"The government here has been functioning in a dictatorial
manner. I am surprised to know that the two departments have
been taken away from me suddenly yesterday. I am hundred per
cent satisfied with my own performance."
"If there is frequent reshuffle in the ministry, how can
work be done? Can a government function this way? I don't
want to remain in this ministry and want to quit as early as
possible," he said in disgust.
The disgruntled minister said his resignation letter was
"ready".
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 18:41